One for the Ages
by Gan Xingba
Summary: YYH Inuyasha and ? Crossover [and no, I'm not gonna' tell you what ? is yet, it's a surprise] Koenma deploys the team to recover some contraband: Kagome's Sacred Jewel shards. But the mission doesn't go as planned, and an epic tale ensues.
1. Prologue

**On the format of the story:** I apologize in advance for the incorrect spacing. I have spaced it out more than is correct to do so, but I believe it will make reading it easier given the format of pages. For the names of items, techniques, titles, etc, I will be referring to them as they are referred to in the English version of the show(s) for the ease of those not fortunate enough (or simply unwilling) to view the episodes/manga issues in their original format. In other words, no use of "san", "sama", or "kun", no "rei-gan", and no "baka". If you're so much of a purist that this detracts from your reading experience, you are reminded that you do not need to read this fic.

**Etc: **The point on the YYH and Inuyasha timelines at which this is occurring should become clear enough in the fic. Feel free to criticize, bash on, or praise my work through reviews. Now, on to the fic!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Prologue**

If there was one thing Yusuke Urameshi had learned in all his years in school, it was this: school sucks. That was, of course, the very reason he was ditching it at the moment, choosing instead to spend his time doing more productive things like playing videogames and maintaining his reputation as "the much, much worser punk of Saryaski Junior High" by scaring the crap out of anyone who looked at him funny.

Yes, for Yusuke, this was the high life, and it was only so often that he got to live it. In fact, the last few weeks had been completely devoid of it. He had, after all, been on an island fighting for his life in the twisted demon-death-match that was the Dark Tournament. It seemed like his hard work had finally paid off though, as most of the prominent demons had either been killed in the Tournament or were hiding in fear of its new champion's wrath.

'_It could be weeks, even months before I have to run errands for that stupid toddler again,'_ he thought jubilantly. _'I've finally got my life back!'_

As it always seemed to work with Yusuke, though, the moment he thought this, the exact opposite happened.

"Skipping school can't be good for your future, you know."

Yusuke whirled around from the arcade machine he was currently playing to be greeted by a familiar blue haired, giggling girl - the grim reaper.

"Damn it, Botan, you made me lose my last life! Do you know how many quarters I poured into that thing?"

"It's bad for your eyes to play so long anyway," chided Botan mockingly. "And you would have had to stop anyways because I have a message from Koenma."

"Oh no! No way! I am _not_ letting that toddler cut into my free-time again," declared Yusuke as he backed towards the arcade door, waving his hands in front of him in protest. "Besides, I've got a date with Keiko and she'll make Toguro look like a tame puppy if I stand her up again."

Botan smiled at that last remark. Yusuke's incredibly bad luck when it came to missions overlapping with dates had become somewhat of a running joke among the people in Koenma's office in Spirit World. There was always a pool on whether he'd have to stand Keiko up when he received a mission. Botan took the pot every time.

"Well, you don't have to worry because this mission won't take more than a few hours at the most, so you shouldn't be slapped anytime soon."

"I wouldn't go that far…" said Yusuke, smirking as he recalled his most recent 'offenses'. "But as long as it's short I suppose I could beat the daylights out of a few scumbags."

"Good. I've already told Kuwabara. He's waiting for us at his place."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

"What took you guys so long?" greeted Kuwabara as Yusuke and Botan entered his room. "It's a good thing I'm so disciplined, otherwise I would've watched the message without ya'."

"Oh? And is that why I had to take it away from you earlier then, little brother?" Shizuru retorted as she waved Koenma's tape in her hand from the doorway.

Kuwabara muttered something unintelligible and crossed his arms in irritation. Shizuru popped the tape in the VCR and reclined on the floor to watch. After all, there was no reason to try and hide any messages from her anymore since she'd figured out the boys' rather unique job back when they had been sent to rescue Yukina.

"You'd think Koenma would've switched to DVDs by now," commented Yusuke as the tape went through Koenma's usual melodramatic intro.

"Are you kidding? He's only just figured out that they aren't CD's," replied Botan, giggling at her own joke as the tape finally moved on to the actual message.

"Since I doubt your attention span has improved since our last meeting, Yusuke, I'll make this as brief as possible."

An image of a purple glass-like fragment replaced Koenma on the screen, and Koenma's voice could again be heard.

"This is a shard of the Shikon Jewel, also known as the Sacred Jewel or the Jewel of Four Souls. It used to be whole, but it was broken and scattered itself all over Japan. When whole, it has unimaginable power, but even a single shard like you see here can increase a demon's strength several fold."

The image shifted back to Koenma, who for some reason was suddenly wearing a trench coat and leaning against a lamp post.

'_I guess TV corrupts Spirit World's youth too,'_ thought Yusuke smugly.

The message continued, "Obviously, this makes it extremely dangerous, and it is considered contraband by Spirit World. Normally, something like this would be a top priority, but since there was that incident with the Dark Tournament we've only recently been able to get some solid intelligence on the jewel shards."

Again, the image on the screen shifted, but this time to a girl in her mid to late teens.

"This is Kagome Higurashi, she is currently in possession of three jewel shards. Apparently, she has found a way to transport herself to the feudal era where she has returned with a varying number of shards over time. She seems to have a strong spiritual aura, but from our reports she should be able to see reason, so I doubt you'll need to fight her. This next fellow is quite another story, however."

A picture of a silver haired youth garbed in red appeared on the screen. He might have passed as fairly normal to Yusuke, if it weren't for the ears.

"Hey! That guy's ears look just like some kinda' dog's!" Exclaimed Kuwabara before receiving a lump on the back of his head courtesy of Shizuru's fist.

"This is Inuyasha, a half-demon from the feudal era that has somehow managed to find a way to travel to this time. Apparently, he's a companion of Kagome's and if he's with her, you should expect a fight. Kagome's address is on the back of case the video was in. This message will self destruct in five seconds."

"Don't pay any attention to that last bit," Botan amended. "He doesn't know how to make it do that."

"Well, let's get this over with," said Yusuke, rising to his feet. "I am not going to get slapped again today."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

It wasn't often that Kagome got the chance to shop in the feudal era, especially in Kaede's village. It was even less often that she actually found something she liked. Unfortunately for her, she always seemed to lack the sense _not_ to ask Inuyasha for his opinion.

_"Oh! This is absolutely gorgeous!" she'd said as she examined green and white dress with glee. "Isn't it amazing, Inuyasha?"_

"_What are you blabbing about? It's ugly as hell!"_

"_SIT BOY!"_

The impact of Inuyasha's face onto the ground had caused dust to get all over the kimono, but at that point the dress had hardly mattered to her.

_'He's just such a jerk sometimes,'_ reflected Kagome from her new designated pouting spot in the large garden behind her family's shrine. _'Honestly, would it really be so hard just to act mature once in a while?'_

She continued on this train of thought for several minutes, going through various scenarios similar to the one yesterday, and each one ending with Inuyasha's face getting better acquainted with the ground.

When Kagome and Inuyasha had a fight, there were several paths that led from the face-plant. Sometimes, if it was something small, she would just wander off for a while and be over it within a few hours. When it was something larger, or she simply needed an excuse to go home for a little while as the case was now, she took the well outside Kaede's village back to her own time, and from there, it was a standoff. Either she would give in, and return back to the feudal era herself, or…

"Uh…Kagome…what are you doing back here?"

Kagome smiled as she turned around to face Inuyasha. Lately, he had been coming to retrieve her more often, and to Kagome it seemed like a giant leap forward. To an outside observer, it might not seem like much, but for her, it seemed important.

"Just thinking," she replied, smiling as Inuyasha shuffled his feat and scratched the back of his head. He was clearly feeling awkward.

"I...I'm sorry about calling that thi-I mean dress, ugly yesterday,"

"Don't worry about it. I was just in a bad mood."

"Well good," he pronounced a clearly more confident. "Cause I only said it so you'd come back and find more jewel shards."

Kagome just chuckled as Inuyasha made a show of crossing his arms and looking away like he was too cool to really give a damn. By now, Kagome had learned that he really didn't mean it when he did things like that. It was all just to satisfy his image, even if nobody was around to see it. She made a mental note to get him to drop the act for about the billionth time and stood up.

"All right, just let me get my…" her voice trailed off when she saw that Inuyasha hadn't moved, and she followed his gaze to a boy clad in green standing at the entrance to the garden.

"Sorry folks, but there's a new toll for traveling to the feudal era," the boy announced, his mouth shifting into a smirk. "Three Sacred Jewel shards. Make the check out to Yusuke Urameshi."


	2. Chapter One: Release the Hounds

**To the reviewers: **Wow, thanks for all the support. I truly wasn't expecting it. By the way, don't worry about the flamer. I was expecting a few guys like him when I opened the story to anonymous review. I've learned to grin and bear it when it comes to people like him, because in the end, who has no life? The guy who is told he has no life, or the one wasting his time to tell that guy he has no life? Oh well. Less talking, more fic!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter One: Release the Hounds**

Yusuke observed the pair as they sat in tense silence. The girl called Kagome was practically clinging to the dog demon, worry apparent in her face. Whether that worry was valid remained to be seen. Koenma hadn't gone into details about either of their capabilities, so Yusuke was unsure whether they could sense his power. He doubted she could though, as the current level of power he was displaying was no reason for her current fear, especially if what he thought he was sensing from the two of them was real.

For a half-demon, Inuyasha was emitting a substantial level of power. Not just from himself, but also from that sword he carried. Not only that, but the odd sense he was getting from Kagome's aura was quite troubling. No doubt, had Koenma not had the sense to send him some help it would probably be a tough assignment. The choice of that help however…

"The twerp's right. You'd better hand those over," announced Kuwabara, landing behind the two perpetrators after a melodramatic leap over the rear wall to the garden, forcing Yusuke to hold back a groan. "Or else you'll be messing with me – the great Kazuma Kuwabara!"

"Well that's just too bad for you then!" announced Inuyasha angrily as he drew his sword with a flourish. "Cause I 'aint givin' you punks nuthin'!"

This had left Yusuke in a profound state of shock as Kagome pleaded with Inuyasha to put the sword away. Not because of Inuyasha's bold statement, but because of the sword. Upon its unsheathing, the seemingly normal katana had glowed fiercely and transformed into a massive falchion style blade that made Bui's axe look like a piece of junk.

"Well…I've got to admit that's a big freakin' sword…" Yusuke observed as he attempted to regain his composure.

"But you know what they say…" started the unflappable Kuwabara with a smirk.

Yusuke groaned. He knew what was coming…

"It's not the size that counts, it's how you use it! SPIRIT SWORD!"

And with that, the glowing blade of energy that was Kuwabara's trademark Spirit Sword leapt to his hand with a flash and he charged at Inuyasha yelling a battle cry. The half-demon was taken by surprise, but he managed to get his sword up in time to parry the blow, only to be forced on the defensive as Kuwabara unleashed a flurry of attacks. For a few moments, it seemed like Kuwabara would defeat Inuyasha without needing any assistance at all from Yusuke, but Inuyasha forced him into a weapons lock and pushed him away with pure brute strength.

"I've had enough of you!" roared Inuyasha, and he raised his massive blade, which now had miniature maelstroms whirling around it.

"Wait, Inuyasha!" interjected Kagome from a safe position among the bushes. "If you use the Wind Scar you could kill innocent people in the blast. Besides, these guys are human!"

"Are you out of your mind? They're tr-oof!"

Inuyasha's sentence was cut short as a horizontal swing from Kuwabara's Spirit Sword connected with his abdomen and sent him crashing into a tree.

"Ha! That'll teach ya' to pay more attention!" taunted Kuwabara, now supremely confident.

Inuyasha grimaced as he picked himself up from the ground, and, to the surprise of his assailants, sheathed his sword.

"I don't need the Tetsusaiga to beat a weakling like you," he proclaimed, cracking his knuckles menacingly as he spoke. "C'mon, I dare ya' to try and hit me with that thing again."

"All right, it's your funeral dog-face!" yelled Kuwabara, and he immediately leapt at Inuyasha, his sword raised in striking position.

Kuwabara's blow came down hard, but to no avail. Inuyasha had caught the Spirit Sword in his right hand, and, ignoring the sizzling pain, he hammered Kuwabara in the jaw with an uppercut from his left fist that sent the Spirit Detective sprawling. Apparently, Inuyasha realized that if he was going to win without his weapon he would need to take advantage of every opportunity. As such, he leapt upon his helpless opponent, grabbed him by the shirt, and flung him into the shrine's stone outer wall. He sprung towards Kuwabara even as the boy fell to the ground with the intention of sealing the victory. However, his flight path was intercepted by Yusuke, who leapt in front of him and knocked him to the ground with a powerful roundhouse kick to the face.

"Enough fooling around," stated Yusuke with a dangerous glint in his eyes. "You don't stand a chance at beating the two of us. Now hand over the shards or I'll send you to the big kennel in the sky. And hurry up with it. I've got places to be."

Inuyasha realized the truth in those words as he noticed a still conscious Kuwabara behind Yusuke getting up and wiping the blood from his mouth.

"Inuyasha, what should we do?" asked Kagome as she ran behind Inuyasha, her voice fraught with concern.

"Run!"

And without further warning, Inuyasha slung Kagome over his shoulder and dashed towards the well house.

Yelling all sorts of obscenities, Yusuke and Kuwabara raced after him, but the only reward they received for their efforts was a getting to see a flash from the well as Inuyasha and Kagome vanished down it.

"This is why I have a cat," muttered Kuwabara. "Dogs always run away."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Are you all right, Kagome?" asked Inuyasha as the glow around the two fugitives faded and they appeared at the bottom of the well in the feudal era.

"I will be once you get me down off your shoulder!" replied Kagome, clearly unhappy with the current turn of events.

"All right, all right. Just calm down you crazy girl," retorted Inuyasha as he bounded out of the well and set Kagome down on the grass. "Just who in the hell were those humans? Do you know 'em?"

"I don't think so…" said Kagome as she looked outward in thought. "But they looked younger than me, so they must still be in school...probably junior high…"

"Ah, so you're back already."

The pair looked up at Miroku's greeting to see the young monk approaching from the village. After returning his greeting, they related the afternoon's events to him. The monk sat in silence for a few moments as he processed all of the information.

"Well then," spoke Miroku finally. "In light of this, I would advise against your return to your time for quite a while."

"What?" yelled Kagome indignantly. "I need to take tests, I need to take showers…I need to do my hair!"

"I'm really sorry about that Kagome…" said Miroku his voice shaking a little as he backed away with his hands up in surrender. "But if they are indeed determined to get the Shikon Jewel shards and they also know where to find you, then there is no doubt that they will have a trap ready for you if you return."

"He's right, Kagome," chimed in Inuyasha. "Damn shame, too. I wanted some more ninja food…"

"You selfish jerk!" cried out Kagome furiously. "Sit boy!"

Inuyasha landed on the ground with a crash and moan of pain. It was going to be a long day.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

"You idiots! How could you let them get to the well! It's ridiculous! I mean, of all the things to let them do that is by far the most stupid, idiotic…"

Koenma had been chewing the boys out like this for what had seemed like an eternity. For someone who had the body of a baby, he sure had some powerful lungs.

"Oh give me a break, pacifier addict," interrupted Yusuke, "You never told us how they were able to travel through time! How were we supposed to know it was that dried-up well?"

"Yeah," added Kuwabara. "And it would have been nice to know about that sword too! That thing was bigger than me!"

Koenma sighed and slouched down into his chair. The boys were right, and he knew it. Intelligence clearly hadn't done enough digging for this mission on either the suspects or the case as a whole. Judging from the boys' report, Inuyasha possessed nearly seven times the amount of power then had been previously reported, and overlooking something as powerful as that sword he was wielding could have proved deadly. Even the report on Kagome seemed inaccurate. If she possessed so much power, then why hadn't she helped her friend? Nothing made sense.

"Unfortunately, at this point we have no choice but to continue the case," said Koenma after a deep breath. "There's no way that we'll be able to get any more intelligence on this case now that they know we're after them. In fact, I doubt they'll return to the current time period for months."

"So how are we supposed to go after them?" Yusuke queried skeptically. "Dig a hole in the well until we reach the feudal era?"

"Did you think that Kagome's well was the only place in Japan where you could travel through time, Yusuke?" responded Koenma. "Because, for your information, I happen to know a place where I can send you to the feudal era without a problem."

"Wait a sec…" said Kuwabara, putting his hand on his chin as if in deep thought. "If we follow them…then couldn't they just come back here?"

"Hey, he's got a point for once," commented Yusuke smugly.

"Are you calling me stupid? I'm plenty smart! I just passed a math test the other day!"

"Yeah, right before failing one in history."

"All right, that's it! I'll take you on right here, Urameshi!"

"Remind me again, how many loses do you have against me? Five hundred?"

As the boys continued to argue, Koenma thought about the situation. Kuwabara had been right, if they went into the feudal era, then the targets would escape like last time. At this point there wasn't much of a choice though, so they would just have to be careful and come up with a good plan on the go.

"…I'm not the one with a creepy obsession with kittens!"

"Kittens are cute and cuddly! All the _cool_ people like kittens, and that's not you, so you're not cool!"

_'I'd better send Kurama with them,'_ noted Koenma. _'Hiei too, for that matter. Anyone's a better thinker than these two numbskulls.'_

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Yusuke and Kuwabara stood in front of the stone archway of an ancient temple about twenty-five miles outside of Tokyo as they waited for the rest of the team to arrive. Koenma had said that the situation would be explained once they were all assembled. They'd only been waiting for a few minutes, but it hadn't taken long for them to start arguing again.

"I'm telling you, Kuwabara, those clothes look stupid as hell," Yusuke said, referring to Kuwabara's white trench coat and pants that he had previously worn in the final round of the Dark Tournament. "I mean come on, _pink_ writing?"

"It's not pink, it's light purple," corrected Kuwabara angrily. "And we're going back in time, so I at least was smart enough to know that my other clothes would look stupid in the past."

"Didn't you see the chick?" Yusuke pointed out. "She was in her uniform. There's no way that my clothes could be worse than a girl's high school uniform."

Kuwabara was trying to come up with an insult when he heard Hiei and Kurama arrive behind them.

"See? They aren't dressed like idiots either."

"Shut up, Urameshi."

Before Kurama could ask what they were talking about or Hiei could call both boys idiotic, Koenma, Botan, and Koenma's ogre assistant, George, appeared with a small popping sound and a burst of smoke.

"Good, it looks like everyone's ready. I guess I should give you the details," began Koenma before pointing up towards the archway. "This archway you see here is referred to as the "gateway to the ages". It's well over one thousand years old, and it has the potential to transport you to any time you wish, should you have to power and knowledge necessary to do so. I have both of these."

"So, you just zap us through that thing, we get the shards, and you zap us back right?" guessed Yusuke hopefully. "I just want to get this over with."

"Well, if you're in such a rush, I'll just get straight to the point then," Koenma snapped, a little irked that he had been interrupted. "Here's the deal: I can send you there, but in order to get back, you're going to need at least ninety percent of the Sacred Jewel…"

"Wait, what?" blurted Kuwabara. "How many shards is that?"

"A lot. They're scattered all over Japan in that era, but you'll have to find them somehow," answered Koenma.

"Don't worry about finding them," stated Hiei. "Nothing can escape my Jagan's notice."

Kuwabara almost shivered as the Jagan Eye glowed on cue from behind Hiei's headband. Even after being saved by Hiei more than once, the fire demon still gave him the creeps.

"As I was saying, you'll also need this," continued Koenma, taking a small silver amulet out of his pocket and tossing it to Yusuke. "There's a small scroll inside that needs to be read by a priest or priestess at this gate when you have enough of the jewel. Don't worry, I've already made sure the spell will send you to the correct time, and that amulet should protect it during a fight."

"How long is this mission gonna' take, tike?" asked Yusuke, although he already knew the answer.

"As long as it takes you to get enough of the Jewel to get home, obviously. Didn't I just say that?" answered Koenma impatiently, to which Yusuke responded to by sighing in despair.

"Don't worry, Yusuke," assured Botan cheerfully, "I've already let Keiko know. She wasn't happy, but I think she understands."

"All right, then what are we waiting for?" said Yusuke with renewed enthusiasm from Botan's assurance.

The other Spirit Dectectives nodded in agreement, and they stepped towards the archway.

"Here goes," announced Koenma, and he began to direct his energy towards the gate.

"How come he doesn't need the spell or the jewel thingy?" whispered Kuwabara to Kurama, who he'd always thought knew everything and then some.

"He _is_ the master of Spirit World, Kuwabara," Kurama replied in a respectfully quiet tone. "When you're that high up on the ladder, you're bound to have an amount of unique powers."

The archway glowed a deep purple, and with a sudden burst of energy a vortex of the same color appeared in the middle of it. Without so much as a second though, the team stepped into portal.

00000000000000000000000000000000000

Yusuke stood under archway and looked around, completely puzzled. Yusuke had seen a lot of movies with time travel in them. They usually involved falling down some crazy hypnotic tunnel, or lightning or…something.

"That's it?" he complained to nobody in particular. "All that hype, and all a get is a lousy flash of light? Time travel sucks."

No one else seemed to share his disappointment, though. Kuwabara was making sure his trench coat was undamaged, and Kurama was at the base of a nearby tree that Hiei had jumped up on top off immediately after their arrival.

"South," stated Hiei before leaping down from the tree and putting his headband back on.

"What are you talking about?" queried Kuwabara as he walked over to the short demon.

"The girl and her mutt. They're to the south, you buffoon," answered Hiei sharply before beginning to walk off in the stated direction.

"Botan let us in on today's events when we she summoned us to the shrine, so we know all the details," explained Kurama, looking up at the sun's position before continuing. "We should depart. If we want to catch up to them, we should begin as soon as possible."

Kuwabara nodded in understanding and the Spirit Detectives started off towards their quarry.


	3. Chapter Two: Aggressive Negotiations

**To the reviewers: **Again, I appreciate the support, guys. Pairings you say, Jasmine? Unfortunately, I believe that a degree of suspense is a good thing in any form of storytelling. By the next chapter, though, you should have it mostly figured out. Mostly.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Two: Aggressive Negotiations**

It had taken two days, but the Spirit Detectives had finally managed to catch up with their targets. From their hidden location a small ridge, the four looked down upon the small camp Kagome and her companions had constructed.

_'Six of them? That wasn't what we were told to expect…" _mused Kurama as he watched the monk try and grope the girl with the massive boomerang for the seventh time since he'd started observing them.

"Kurama, are you sure it's not _easier_ for that guy to smell us when we've got this gunk on us?" complained Yusuke wrinkling his nose from the stench. "This smells less like a smashed plant and more like dog crap."

"No, I'm quite sure of its effect," answered Kurama calmly. "Dog demons like Inuyasha have a keen sense of smell. He would have smelled us already had I not found something to mask our scent."

"So what? Aren't we just gonna' beat their faces in anyway?" asked Yusuke impatiently.

"I dunno, Urameshi. I can sense them down there…and something's just not right…" added Kuwabara, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"What do you sense, Kuwabara?" Kurama asked, eager to confirm his suspicions.

"Well, first three of those guys are human…and that one demon's just a kid an-"

"We can all see that, fool," interrupted Hiei. "Have you forgotten? The scum behind the Dark Tournament were human also. As for the demon child, weren't you beaten by one in that same tournament?"

"He got lucky, shrimp, and you know it," replied Kuwabara through clenched teeth, struggling to control his anger. "But you didn't let me finish. When I was kicking the crap out of those demons in the Dark Tournament…I could _feel_ how evil most of 'em were, and I don't feel that now."

"Idiot, that's irrelevant. I think they made it painfully obvious that they aren't simply going to give up those shards when you let them escape earlier," commented Hiei as he walked towards the edge of the ridge. "I say we attack them now, take the shards, and leave them to rot."

"Yeah, let's kick their asses and move on," agreed Yusuke began to stretch in preparation.

"I disagree," said Kurama, causing his more violent teammates to turn around in annoyance. "While a confrontation is inevitable, we should do our best to try and end it through peaceful means if Kuwabara's senses are correct. Besides, we have been traveling for nearly seven hours straight. If we confront them while fatigued, we will be at a disadvantage."

"Hn."

Of all the people that Kurama had ever met, Hiei was the only one who made that sound. It could mean absolutely anything from "Fine, but I don't like it", which is what he meant right now, to "You're a dumbass", which was usually what it meant when directed at Kuwabara. Kurama had always wondered where Hiei had picked it up.

"I'll take first watch," volunteered Yusuke as the others took their various resting positions along the ridge. "I'll let you know if they move. If we're attacked though, I get to take care of it. I need to beat something up."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Wake up, lug-head."

"I don't think he can hear you, Yusuke."

"Hiei…what are you doing with that rock?"

"Waking him up."

"Hiei, that rock looks like it weighs about fifty pounds..."

"It does."

"Is that the only one you could find?"

"Yes."

Fortunately for Kuwabara, he woke up at that precise point in the conversation looking up at a relieved Kurama, an amused Yusuke, and a very disappointed Hiei. He yawned and blinked a little to adjust his eyes to the early morning light, and as he finally became aware of his surroundings, settled his gaze on Hiei…and his rock.

"What's that for?" he asked, pointing up at the rock with his thumb.

"Hn," was all Hiei said before letting the rock drop to the ground with Kuwabara just barely managing to roll out of the way.

"Damn it! You little creep! I'll get you for that!" began Kuwabara, lunging towards Hiei before he was restrained by Yusuke.

"Not so loud, moron. We're trying to be careful, remember?" Yusuke said as Kuwabara finally began to calm down.

"Actually, now would be a great time to make a move," corrected Kurama as he looked down on the camp below.

His teammates soon joined him and realized what he was talking about. Out of the six that were there last night, there were only four present. The girl with the boomerang and the demon cat were nowhere to be seen.

"Now remember," reminded Kurama, stopping Yusuke before he began to descend down the ridge. "We're going to try and end this with as little bloodshed as possible."

"Right, right," assured Yusuke, and without further word began to walk down the slope towards the encampment.

The others followed suit, and soon they were sauntering through the woods at an even pace. They almost looked like they were going out for a stroll as they made their way through the undergrowth, each one as calm and relaxed as the next. When they finally arrived at the clearing they stopped. Taking in the stunned expression on Inuyasha's face, Yusuke stepped forward.

"All right, let's try this again," started Yusuke with a smug smile appearing on his face. "Hand over the jewel shards or I might start to get angry."

"Not a chance!" declared the half-demon as he drew his sword and stepped in front of Kagome protectively. "Right, Miroku?"

"Agreed," concurred the monk as he rose to his feet and faced the threat. "You'll have to get through us first."

Before Yusuke could even say another one-liner, Inuyasha was already in the air flying towards the group. Yusuke and Kuwabara dodged to their left and the other two dodged to their right as the earth around where they had just been crumbled from the force of Inuyasha's strike. Apparently intent on revenge, he ignored Hiei and Kurama and charged the pair to his right as Miroku stepped forward to confront the two demons.

"I'll assume you can handle this," said Hiei in a hushed tone to Kurama, though he still faced the monk.

Kurama nodded, and Hiei seemingly disappeared as he leapt past Miroku with blinding speed, and was suddenly in hot pursuit of Kagome and the fox demon cub, who had started to run away to safety. Realizing that yelling out a warning would be both futile and leave him open, Miroku began to engage Kurama; his staff whistling through the air as the fox demon artfully avoided his attacked.

Inuyasha however, was not so wise. Yelling her name in warning, he tried to make an about face towards Kagome's path of retreat and intercept Hiei. This momentary lapse in attention was just what Yusuke needed, and he landed a powerful right hook into Inuyasha's cheek that sent the half-demon crashing through several small trees.

In only one more leap, Hiei was hanging in the air above his targets. All seemed lost for the pair as gravity carried Hiei down towards them until...

"Hiraikotsu!"

Hiei turned in the direction of the new voice just in time to see the massive boomerang slam into his gut. Twisting and turning through the air, he managed to regain control and land on one knee, albeit with a throbbing pain in his abdomen. He looked up to see that Kagome and the cub had stopped running. Whether it was because they had seen the futility in it, or out of fear, Hiei cared not. The only thing that concerned him was the newcomer.

When he'd seen her the other night, she had appeared like a normal girl in her traveling clothes, boomerang aside of course. Now, though, she was clearly a warrior. Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, and she was clad in black and red light-armor. The massive boomerang no longer seemed out of place as she caught it on its return path and slung it over her shoulder. But warrior or not, no one had ever gotten in Hiei's way without receiving a substantial amount of pain for their efforts.

"You'll pay for that, cretin!" threatened Hiei with venom dripping of his words as he rose and put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

He made to draw the weapon, but then paused at the last second and pulled his hand away, as if suddenly thinking better of it.

"Why should I bother? It would take more effort to clean the blood off my blade than to kill you," he said, his voice no longer fiery like that of a warrior, but ice cold like that of a killer.

"Be careful, Sango," advised Kagome. "This guy doesn't seem like the two I was talking about earlier."

"You're right," agreed Sango as she shifted her boomerang into combat position. "And not just in the way you mean. This guy's definitely a demon."

Sango adjusted her stance and waited for Hiei to make a move.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Elsewhere on the battlefield, Miroku took advantage of a break in the duel to catch his breath. So far, it had been kept strictly to melee combat. Although neither one had scored a crushing blow, it was obvious Miroku was in much worse condition. His lip was bleeding, and he guessed he was host to more than a few bruises judging from the pain spread out across his body.

_'He appears to be a master of at least a dozen martial arts styles,'_ Miroku noted as he regarded the perfect fighting stance of his crimson haired assailant. _'Not many demons would even bother to learn any. Most of them just rely on brute force and their…wait a moment…'_

"How come you haven't used your powers, demon?" he blurted out as his thoughts turned into words. "Why are you holding back?"

"It's not necessary to use them," replied the demon showing no hint of emotion on his face.

"Then I'll make it necessary!" proclaimed Miroku as he flung several sutras towards his enemy.

The sutras, however did not reach their intended target. The demon had pulled a rose out of his hair, and with a flick of his wrist the flower had transformed into a thorn covered whip that was immediately used to cut down the oncoming sutras.

"I see. You can transform plants into a weapon…quite a unique power," observed Miroku as he slowly began to undue the prayer beads wrapped around his right hand. "I also have a unique talent. Wind Tunnel!"

As that accursed name escaped from his lips, he threw up his right palm in the direction of the demon, the beads that were wrapped around it now clutched in his left hand, which itself was steadying the right. The sudden vacuum ripped the whip right out of the demon's hand and it was sucked into the black hole that now showed itself on the young monk's palm. As the whip vanished, Miroku reapplied the beads and smiled confidently.

"Now then, I have some questions, and unless you want to end up like that whip of yours then you'll give me some answers."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Almost a minute had passed, and neither Hiei nor Sango had moved from their position. Sango hadn't moved because she was trying to figure out how to counter Hiei's speed, but Hiei's reason wasn't nearly that tactical. He was simply amused.

"You got the jump on me with your strongest attack and failed to harm me. Yet still you stand there thinking that by simply stalling the battle you can defeat me?" he taunted almost laughing as he spoke. "I've humored you for long enough."

"Humor this!" retorted Sango and she threw her boomerang at him with incredible force.

All her strength and rage was wasted, though. Hiei leapt directly above the boomerang, and used it like a stepping stone to give him even more momentum as he flew threw the air at Sango. His speed was so great that Sango had no chance to react before his foot slammed her stomach in a flying kick, and she was sent skidding across the ground.

"Like I was going to say before I was so rudely interrupted," said Hiei as he turned to face Kagome and the cub. "Give me the shards and you may yet escape with your lives."

"Hold it. You're not finished with me yet."

Hiei was shocked when he turned to see Sango rising to her feet and unsheathing her sword, though he managed to avoid showing it outwardly. She wasn't supposed to be standing after that blow. Granted, she was battered, bruised, and unable to even hold her sword straight, but she was standing nonetheless.

"Drawing that sword," began Hiei, still speaking in that cold and deadly voice. "Will be the last mistake you ever made."

Slowly, Hiei drew his katana, allowing the light of the sun to dance on the razor sharp edge of the blade as it came out of its sheath. He pointed the tip of the blade towards Sango, and let his spirit energy flare up around him, creating a sudden burst of wind in all directions. Staring at Hiei at this moment was as if staring into the very face of death itself, and Hiei had always relished the look upon his enemy's face when a battle reached this point.

Yet, Sango did not have that same look of terror he had seen so many times. She was showing extreme nervousness, yes, but not terror. That was not what Hiei had planned.

'_Doesn't she realize how easily I could kill her?'_ he thought, adding just a little more power to his aura. _'She's supposed to give up. Why won't she give up? Now that I have said she will die…if she doesn't surrender…'_

It wasn't that Hiei minded killing. He'd killed a lot of people. Hell, he'd enjoyed killing a lot of those people.

_'So why do I hesitate now? Have I really changed that much?'_

"Hiei, stand down," came Kurama's voice from the direction of the camp, interrupting his introspection.

Hiei turned his head just enough to see Kurama walking down the path next to the monk the dog demon had referred to as Miroku. He did not lower his sword, however.

"Why should I?" inquired Hiei tonelessly as he turned his gaze back upon Sango. "I'll have the shards in moments anyway. We do not need to make a deal with the likes of them."

"It only benefits you," pleaded Miroku, eager to see Hiei's sword put away. "Our goals are compatible. We could help you."

"Please, Hiei, just lower your sword."

"Hn," grunted Hiei and he lowered the katana at Kurama's request and to everyone's relief.

Sango's friends were quick to rush to her side, and Hiei walked over to Kurama, anger written all over his face.

"What's the meaning of this, fox? I had the situation well in hand."

"Like Miroku said, our goals are compatible. There's no reason we should fight when we could be working together."

"How am I supposed to work with all these fools when I can't even stand K-"

"There you guys are," said Kuwabara as he emerged the forest cradling the unconscious form of the diminutive cat demon that they'd seen last night. "What's going on? You guys make friends or somethin'?"

"Something like that," answered Kurama. "Where are Yusuke and Inuyasha?"

"Hey, what'd you do to Kirara?" yelled the little fox cub as he dashed over to Kuwabara, pointing a finger at him accusingly.

"Oh, here's your kitty, little guy," he said bending over to hand Kirara to the cub. "Sorry I knocked it out. It turned all big and fiery and stuff and tried to bite me."

"Did…did he just call Kirara a kitty?" asked Kagome rhetorically. "What a weird guy…"

"Answer Kurama's question, imbecile," demanded Hiei, trying to get the conversation back on track. "Where's Yusuke?"

"Dunno. I got attacked by that cat and by the time I'd knocked it out those guys had moved the fight someplace else," reported Kuwabara. "They shouldn't be hard to find though…"

"Why not?" asked Sango, as she, Miroku and Kagome walked over to the others.

An explosion from the ridge that the Spirit Detectives had used as a camp provided the answer.

"Oh."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Inuyasha cursed as the smoke cleared. That was the only Wind Scar he'd been able to get off against Yusuke, and the punk had dodged it. On top of that, the kid had managed to vanish from Inuyasha's sight.

"Come out and fight you coward!" he yelled, his eyes darting every which way trying to find his enemy.

"No problem!"

Inuyasha barely had time to avoid the punch, and the ground on which he had been standing was decimated by the blow.

"Dodge this! Shotgun!" yelled Yusuke, and at his command a barrage of blue energy balls burst from his fist towards the still airborne Inuyasha.

Inuyasha was unable to avoid the attack, and the energy bolts cascaded into him. When they finally stopped, Inuyasha plummeted to the earth, too winded to stabilize himself. He managed to pick himself up of the ground just in time to hear Yusuke's cry of "Spirit Gun!" and raised the Tetsusaiga to block the oncoming blast.

The attack slammed hard into the flat of his sword for several moments as Inuyasha struggled to maintain his footing. When the attack finally dissipated, Inuyasha threw Tetsusaiga over his shoulder and grinned confidently.

"That the best you got, punk? I'm not even scratched."

"Funny, I'd think your sword would say something different."

Inuyasha quickly examined the massive weapon and his jaw dropped in dismay. On the side of the blade that had absorbed the attack, there was a shallow, but long crack.

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" roared Inuyasha and he charged Yusuke like a berserker.

Inuyasha moved with such speed that all Yusuke could do was avoid the assault. He was about to go for broke and try the Spirit Gun again when fortune smiled upon him.

"Inuyasha, sit!"

Yusuke was completely perplexed as Inuyasha was pulled face first into the ground by his beaded necklace, and he turned towards the sound of the voice to see Kagome and the others standing at the crest of the ridge.

"What in the hell is going on?" he asked, not really caring who answered.

"The situation's changed," answered Kurama. "Come. We'll explain at the camp."


	4. Chapter Three: Group Project

**To the reviewers:** Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've had a busy schedule and a car accident to deal with (I got rear ending by a freaking Jeep. My poor Acura!). This chapter's pretty long, so I hope it'll make up for it. I really appreciate all the support, guys. Just remember, you're free to critique me also.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Three: Group Project  
**

It had taken at least five "sits" for Inuyasha to agree to postpone taking vengeance on Yusuke for the crack in his precious sword and hear what the Spirit Detectives had to say. Though most present thought the delay was a complete waste of time, Yusuke and Kuwabara had enjoyed it extensively, and laughed about it the whole way down the ridge. At last they arrived at the camp, which in hindsight was fairly unnecessary considering that the fire was no more than ashes and the logs that had been used as makeshift seats weren't that much more comfortable than sitting on the ground.

Not surprisingly given the recent battle, the two parties at on opposite ends of the camp. This wasn't good enough for Hiei, though, who distanced himself from everyone and leaned against a tree at the edge of the clearing.

"Are you sure you don't want to treat your injuries before we begin?" asked Kurama, noticing Sango's condition.

"I'm fine, nothing's broken," she answered, doing her best to appear lively. "Please, go ahead."

"Very well," acknowledged Kurama, then he drew in a deep breath and began to explain the situation. "As you are aware, we are here in search of the Sacred Jewel; all of it. What you are not aware of is the why. We are agents of the Spirit World, or what you might refer to as 'heaven', back in our time period. Essentially, we are enforcers of paranormal law. Usually, this involves eliminating criminals with supernatural powers such as demons."

"Well then you've got the wrong group, dumbass," interrupted Inuyasha, who was sitting cross legged on the ground with his arms crossed in an indignant pose. "We 'aint no crooks."

"Inuyasha, don't make me say it…" warned Kagome as she narrowed her eyes at the half-demon.

"Just tellin' the truth," muttered Inuyasha before falling silent under the threat of another "sit".

"Well…that's where it gets a little more complicated," Kurama said a little hesitantly. "You see, under Spirit World law, the Shikon Jewel shards are considered contraband due to the strength they posses. However, this is not the case in this era, since Spirit World was not enforcing law in this era. The problem occurred when Kagome brought the shards back to her time. When this happened, the shards fell under our jurisdiction."

"But the why follow me here?" asked Kagome, now more than a little confused. "You said it wasn't illegal in this time period."

"You are indeed correct, however, once a target is within our jurisdiction, it is within Spirit World law to pursue them anywhere they go to complete the mission," replied Kurama. "Our boss decided that we should pursue you, and take the opportunity to collect as much of the jewel as we can. Once we return, the shards will be locked away where no demon can get to them."

At this, Inuyasha growled, but said nothing. It was well known amongst his companions that Inuyasha had started his hunt for the Sacred Jewel in order to become a full fledged demon with its power. Recent revelations had made things a little less simplistic, though. The group had discovered Inuyasha was far enough removed from his sword, the Tetsusaiga, he transformed into his full demon form, and when this happened he became little more than a bloodthirsty animal, losing total control over himself. In addition, the Tetsusaiga had been gaining in power and was now even able to smash through almost any barrier. Since he would lose the ability to use it as a full demon, it was becoming questionable whether or not he would be stronger after becoming one. Then there was the distracting matter of revenge…

"There, you've had your explanation," snapped Hiei from his position against the tree. "Now we want ours."

"Aren't you the patient one," responded Miroku sarcastically, and he may have continued to do so had Hiei not reached for his katana. "Uh…heh…anyway, like we said earlier, our goals are completely compatible. You see, we are hunting a demon called Naraku, and it just so happens that Naraku has most of the Jewel in his position. In other words: if you help us kill Naraku, you'll complete your mission, and we'll each have our vengeance."

"Vengeance? That means revenge, right?" inquired Yusuke, noticing the young monk's choice of words. "What'd this Naraku guy do to you to get you so pissed off at him?"

"I'm afraid that's a personal matter, at least for me," answered Miroku. "The others may be willing to tell you later, but now is not the time. In fact, before we go any further, we need to know whether we are still enemies, or if we are to become allies."

"Yeah, cause if we're enemies I'm ready to settle this right now," declared Inuyasha, standing up abruptly and flexing his claws.

"Your call, Kurama," acknowledged Yusuke, and then anxiously awaited his friend's decision.

"We're allies, of course," Kurama decided, clearly thinking the decision a simple one. "There is really no reason not to."

"Hn."

The group turned to see Hiei move from his position and turn towards the forest. It was apparent to everyone that he was displeased with the decision, even without being able to see his face.

"I'll respect Kurama's decision, but know this: If you ever need to rest, I will not stop for you, if you ever need a favor, I will not grant you one, and if you ever need saving, I will let you die," and upon finishing his callous declaration, he leapt off into the forest.

"Don't pay mind to him," assured Kurama as his new allies sat in stunned silence. "He's just…not a people person."

"No kidding," chimed in Kuwabara with a goofy grin on his face. "Hiei talks like that to everybody. Don't let the little runt scare ya'."

"Stop trying to pretend you're cool, Kuwabara. You're scared to death of Hiei," mocked Yusuke.

"So, what's our course of action?" asked Kurama with a polite smile, trying his best to ignore the shouting match that was developing behind him.

"We're getting my sword fixed, that's what!" answered Inuyasha before anyone else had the chance to speak. "Your idiot friend over there damaged it, so now we've got to go totally out of our way to get it fixed."

"He was just asking Inuyasha, don't be so rude," chided Kagome, and Inuyasha, not wanting to involuntarily head-butt the ground again, reduced his complaints to intelligible grumbling.

"Well, why don't we wait to leave until tomorrow?" suggested Sango. "We all need to rest after that fight, and we have some food if you're hungry…"

"All right! Food!" exclaimed Kuwabara, who had rushed over at the mention of food, completely forgetting his argument with Yusuke.

"There you have it," pronounced Kurama as Kuwabara began to tear into a piece of salted meat. "We'll set out tomorrow."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Considering they had been literally trying to kill each other mere hours before, the rest of the day had gone fairly well. Albeit, Inuyasha still didn't trust the Spirit Detectives at all and Hiei had opted to sleep in a tree rather than in the camp with everyone else, but that was really the norm for those two.

The next morning passed without event as the group shifted course towards the volcano where Inuyasha's blacksmith, Totosai, made his home. At around noon, they were fast approaching a dense forest. Hiei walked ahead of everyone, and was followed by the main group, with Inuyasha staying behind Yusuke in the rear. He had made it clear that he wasn't going to turn his back on the boy. Suddenly, Hiei stopped a few dozen meters from the edge of the forest and his Jagan glowed intensely as he scanned the forest.

"Do you see something, Hiei?" asked Kurama, noticing Hiei's tentativeness.

"There's something in there that's blocking my Jagan's gaze, but I'll put a stop to that," Hiei answered, still facing the forest. "Tell those clowns tagging along that they should stay back."

"We can pull our weight just fine, demon," countered Sango as she hefted her boomerang and marched past Hiei towards the forest. "In fact, _you_ stay here, and _I'll_ take care of the demon."

"Hn," Hiei grunted, and followed her into the forest. "Like I said before, I won't save you, even from your own stupidity."

"Wait guys!" yelled Kuwabara after the pair as the disappeared into the sea of green. "There's somethin' messed up about this place!"

"I'm also sensing some ominous auras," added Miroku. "We'd best follow them."

"Right!" affirmed Kuwabara, and the two raced into the forest closely followed by Kirara, who appeared to be anxious for her mistress's safety.

"Well, I suppose that we should go as well then," suggested Kurama to the remainder of the troupe.

"You're probably right, there could be anything in there," consented Kagome, and motioned for the little fox demon cub to follow. "Come on, Shippou."

"Why is it that everything evil is in a forest?" complained Shippou, but complied nonetheless, and everyone headed towards the forest.

Yusuke, though, stopped just before entering the brush, and Inuyasha followed suit behind him.

"Get a move on, kid," ordered Inuyasha irritably. "We're gonna' fall behind."

"That's it! I've had enough of this shit!" bellowed Yusuke, whirling about with his eyes full of fury. "So, you don't trust me, I get it already! But sooner or later, you're not going to have me in your sight, so you might as well stop acting like a damned idiot and get it over with!"

"Feh, I was just being polite," scoffed Inuyasha and finally stepped past Yusuke. "Now quit stallin' and let's go."

As Yusuke and Inuyasha stepped through the undergrowth, though, what they saw was not the forest they had been expecting. The first thing they noticed was that there was a thick fog surrounding them, making it very difficult to see. The second thing they noticed was that they were all alone.

"Just where the hell is everyone?" Yusuke wondered out loud. "I can't even sense them."

"I can't smell 'em either," said Inuyasha as he sniffed the air gain to make sure. "Damn! We gotta' find them. Kagome could be in trouble."

"I wouldn't worry about Kagome when Kurama's with her," assured Yusuke as the unwilling allies began to walk in the direction they thought might be deeper into the forest. "But…"

"But what!" asked Inuyasha with an insistent glare at Yusuke.

"Well…I wouldn't exactly trust my girlfriend around a guy like Kurama either," admitted the Spirit Detective looking upward in thought. "Girls tend to like pretty-boy goodie-two-shoes like him."

"Kagome is _not_ my girlfriend!" denied Inuyasha, but after pouting briefly turned back to Yusuke. "Do girls really like that guy?"

"Oh yeah," Yusuke laughed. "He practically has to spend all day avoiding hordes of 'em."

A small amount of sweat began to form on Inuyasha's brow and he began to walk just a little bit faster.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Inuyasha! Where'd you go?" called out Kagome as she walked through the mist with Kurama and Shippou.

"It's no use, he won't hear you," said Kurama calmly. "This forest seems to be used as some kind of defense for the demon in here. The only way out is to kill the demon or get lucky. Since Hiei will probably find the demon before we will, we might as well try for the later."

"I wonder if the demon has any Sacred Jewel shards…" pondered Kagome. "It would explain how it can do this to an entire forest."

"It's entirely possible. You might not be able to sense the shard through the mist, priestess," stated Kurama, as if it was common knowledge.

"How did you know that Kagome was a priestess?" asked Shippou, clearly in awe of Kurama's knowledge.

"Priestesses have very a very unique type of spirit energy," Kurama explained. "One tends not to forget it."

"Well since you seem to know so much about me, then I get to know about you," commanded Kagome, eager to relieve the boredom of the endless misty forest. "Wh-"

"What kind of demon are you?" interrupted Shippou innocently. "Miroku said you used a flower when you fought him. Are you a flower demon?"

"No, I'm not a flower demon," answered Kurama with an amused smile on his face. "I'm actually a fox demon like you."

At this, Shippou's face lit up. Other than his father, he had never met another fox demon, and this had always been somewhat depressing for him. Now that he'd finally met one, he was overjoyed.

'_Wow, what a nice guy,'_ thought Kagome as she watched Kurama patiently answer Shippou's barrage of questions. _'How on earth could someone like him be friends with a guy as psycho as that Hiei guy...'_

Suddenly Kagome stopped dead in her tracks as realization dawned upon her. If she, Kurama, and Shippou were alone after entering the forest at the same time…then that meant…

'_Just great, Sango's stuck alone in a forest that she can't escape from with a guy that was seconds away from killing her just yesterday.'_ she surmised apprehensively. _'This is bad.'_

000000000000000000000000000000000000

From the moment the mist had appeared, Sango hadn't let go of the handle on her boomerang. It was starting to hurt her hand from squeezing so hard, but there was no way she was going to let go, at least not with Hiei around. After all, death threats are not the best first impressions.

He hadn't made good on those yet, though. In fact, other than for some reason jumping in front of her when they entered the forest, the demon hadn't so much as looked at her, and chose instead to press forward in a silent march. Though his back was less menacing than his sword, Sango still found the situation a little unnerving.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on here?" she finally asked, unable to take the tense silence anymore.

"Hn,"

"What? You don't know either?"

"Idiot, of course I know. If you can't figure it out by now then there's no point in telling you. Now be silent."

'_Of all the people in the world to get stuck in a demon infested forest with…' _thought Sango as she stared knifes into Hiei's back.

Suddenly, a small winged shape darted out of the mist towards Hiei, screeching the whole way. Before Sango could raise her boomerang, the creature was laying at Hiei's feet in two pieces. Even as Hiei flicked the blood off his sword, more shrieking could be hear from the mist, and it was slowly getting louder.

"Don't get in my way," ordered Hiei as he turned towards the approaching noise. "If one of these things scratches me because of your interference, you'll pay in full."

Sango didn't even bother answering him verbally, and opted to get into a fighting stance and let her actions do the talking. As the shadowy forms of the flying demons appeared in the mist, Sango flung her boomerang at them, demolishing the first wave. It was only as the next group came through the mist that she noticed what they looked like. They were some sort of bird demon, most likely crow or raven judging from the color of the feathers.

There was little time to think much more on the issue though, seeing as a whole host of them were pouring out of the mist. Sango let her boomerang fly again, but even that did little to stem the tide. Hiei didn't seem to care however, and he began to dart through the bird demons wielding his katana at undetectable speed, leaving nothing but a trail of blood and bodies behind him. Sango wasn't fast enough to maneuver like that though, and she was forced to use her boomerang as melee weapon as the demons closed in on her.

She took down almost a dozen demons with each swing of her massive weapon, but their numbers were so great she was unable to do much else but hold her ground for quite some time. Eventually though, their ranks began to dissipate, and she was finally able to use her boomerang in the proper fashion.

"Hiraikotsu!" she cried as she loosed her boomerang on the last of the bird demon horde, dropping them all in a single strike.

Before her boomerang returned though, she heard a triumphant screech from over her shoulder. A bird demon had escaped her notice, and its beak was aimed at the back of her head in a dive. It would have been a fatal blow, but it did not land. Instead, the bird demon found itself impaled on Hiei's sword.

Sango was so surprised that she was alive that she almost forgot about her returning boomerang, and stumbled a little bit after catching it. After regaining her balance, she turned around to face Hiei, who was sheathing his sword, having removed of the bird demon's corpse from it.

"I didn't see that one," she said, wiping some blood off her face. "Thanks."

"Don't mistake my actions," responded Hiei with a menacing glare. "I wasn't saving you. I was going to have to kill that one eventually, and it was an easy target while it was attacking you."

The demon did an about face and began to resume his march towards the heart of the forest. Sango followed suit once again with her hand on her boomerang handle, though her grip on it was noticeably weaker.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Are you sure you felt something, Kuwabara?"

"Positive. Someone was beating the crap out of someone else."

Miroku sighed as he tried to keep pace with Kuwabara and Kirara. Kuwabara had claimed to sense something in this direction a little while back, which Miroku was quite skeptical about since Kuwabara had been complaining non-stop about his inability to sense anything in this "stupid-ass fog".

"It doesn't make sense, though," Miroku continued as they ran. "I can't sense anything at all."

"That's 'cause I'm the best at sensing energy and stuff," replied Kuwabara proudly. "It's like my specialty…other than beating the crap out of bad guys."

'_How does this guy have the word "detective" in his title?'_ pondered Miroku, completely bewildered by Kuwabara's simplicity.

He received his answer at the next clearing. The ground was littered with what looked to be bird demon carcasses, and the sight was enough to get the trio to stop in their tracks.

"Wow, that's a lot of dead bird thingies," commented Kuwabara, picking up a headless one up by the tail feathers. "Who d'ya think did this?"

"We at least know Sango was here for sure. Look at this," responded Miroku, picking up a small brown orb from the ground. "This is one of her smoke pellets. It must have fallen from her pouch during the battle."

"Damn!" cursed Kuwabara suddenly, as if just coming to a displeasing realization.

"What's wrong?" Miroku asked, perplexed at the sudden outburst.

"Well, this was probably what I was sensing, and I'm not sensing anything else," answered Kuwabara. "That means we have no idea where they went after the fight."

"Don't worry, I encounter this type of situation all the time as monk," assured Miroku confidently.

"Really? What should we do then?" inquired Kuwabara with anticipation.

"Guess," answered Miroku, causing Kuwbara's jaw to drop in shock. "This way!"

Miroku then sprinted off in a seemingly random direction, with Kirara trailing him.

"Wait a sec!" yelled Kuwabara as he ran to catch up to the others. "What in the hell does that have to do with being a monk?"

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Sango frowned as she stood over the remains of the large crow demon. It had been killed without much effort. Hiei had sliced off its right wing and she had finished it with as strike from her boomerang.

"That's embarrassing," commented Sango. "The demon went down in seconds, but I was almost killed by its underlings."

"A hundred weaklings are harder to kill than one slightly stronger weakling," remarked Hiei as he surveyed the area.

Sango sighed and hefted her boomerang over her shoulder. Hiei had a point, even if it was told in a harsh fashion. As she made ready to move out, though, she noticed something.

"The mist is still here…" she pointed out. "I don't understand…we killed the demon…"

"Why don't you try thinking? I hear that it proves useful," snapped Hiei irritably as he started to make his way through some bushes.

Sango clenched her teeth to try and hold back her anger at the insult. She'd been called a lot of things before, but not stupid.

'_I have to admit, though, that wasn't a good question,'_ she thought as she followed Hiei. _'Obviously it means that the demon wasn't causing the mist.'_

They emerged in a small clearing containing a springs…that had an incredible amount of mist pouring out of it.

"All this mist was caused by a spring?" she asked rhetorically, and immediately regretted it.

"Brilliant deduction," replied Hiei, his voice laden with sarcasm. "What unbelievable discovery will you tell me next? That the sky is blue?"

If she didn't suspect Hiei would kill her in an instant, Sango would have hit him over the head with her boomerang by now. Hell, she'd have hit him with anything at this point. Still…

'_Would he actually kill me?'_ she pondered as she watched Hiei begin to examine the water. _'He did save me earlier, whether he admits it or not. Maybe he's all talk. Inuyasha's a little like that. Hiei's just a lot more…extreme.'_

As she continued to have a debate in her head, Hiei stared intently into the spring and suddenly, he dove in. Before Sango could think of how to react, he leapt back out of the water, holding a Sacred Jewel shard in his left hand. Almost immediately, the mist disappeared, and Sango could hear the forest clearly around her. She hadn't realized that the mist had dulled her hearing as well.

"Sango!" came Miroku's voice from behind her as the young monk burst through the bushes with Kuwabara and Kirara close behind. "There you are. What happened to the mist?"

"_I_ took care of it, like I said I would," announced Hiei, quickly pocketing the Jewel Shard before the monk could see it. "You fools just complicated the matter."

"That spring had a jewel shard in it," said Sango, ignoring Hiei's statement. "Somehow that caused all the mist."

"How could water do all that?" asked Kuwabara, scratching his head in confusion.

"It must be some sort of holy site," concluded Miroku as he stepped over to the edge of the spring. "Yes, it's definitely a sacred place. You didn't…go into it…did you?"

"What, did I somehow offend your gods by going into a pool of water?" mocked Hiei and shook the water out of his hair. "Wait, don't answer that. I don't actually care."

"At any rate, I'm just glad you're all right, Sango," said Miroku trying his best to ignore Hiei.

"You're glad my butt is all right too, apparently," noted Sango as she grabbed hold of Miroku's wrist before it could reach its target. "Now, let's go find the others."

"Hn, do as you will, but I'm getting out of this ridiculous forest," stated Hiei with as much ice as ever, and leapt off towards the other side of the forest.

"Man, I hate that short little punk," said Kuwabara after Hiei had disappeared from sight, and then joined the others as they began to comb the forest for their missing group members.


	5. Chapter Four: Another Day in the Life

**To the reviewers:** Thanks once more for the support, and sorry for the long wait for an update. No car accident this time, just busy. Unfortunately, this chapter isn't as long as the last one either (it clocks in at a little over 3,000 words as opposed to 4,000). Also, this may be my weakest chapter thus far, so definitely tell me if you see something you don't like.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Four: Another Day in the Life…**

"Look, the mist cleared."

Shippou finally stopped interrogating Kurama long enough to verify Kagome's statement. Kurama had concluded earlier that of all the groups, they were least likely to find whatever was causing the mist first, so they had decided to just sit down and rest. Since that point, Shippou had been talking Kurama's ear off, asking him about anything and everything that came to mind. How Kurama kept his sanity was anyone's guess.

"Well, I suppose that means we should go find the others then," suggested Kurama as he stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes.

"Come on Shippou," said Kagome, also rising to her feet. "You can annoy Kurama more latter."

"I wasn't annoying him!" denied Shippou. "Was I, Kurama?"

"No, Shippou, you weren't annoying me at all," assured Kurama with a kind smile as the trio began to move out. "Curiosity is to be expected from one so young."

_'If there is such as thing as being kind to a fault, then this guy is it…'_ thought Kagome and moved to follow the two fox demons.

They hadn't taken more than a few steps when Inuyasha burst through the trees like the fate of the world depended on how fast he ran. A huge cloud of dust from his skidding stop greeted Yusuke as the Spirit Detective arrived in the same manner, though judging by the look on his face it wasn't his idea to do so.

"There you are, Kagome! Do you know what a pain in the ass it's been finding you in this damned forest? You're just such a…"

_'And if Kurama's Yin, then Inuyasha's Yang,'_ finished Kagome as she watched said half-demon continue to rant about the happenings of the last few hours with an amused smile.

"You get pissed off way too easy there, Spot," taunted Yusuke after he had rubbed the dust out of his eyes. "It's no wonder she uses that magic shock collar on you so much."

"Spot? What the hell does that mean?" demanded Inuyasha.

"He's calling you a mutt, mutt."

Kuwabara sauntered up to the group followed closely by Miroku, Sango, and Kirara. Inuyasha repressed his anger to a growl as he realized there was no way he was going to out insult the boys and abandoned the argument.

"Hey…how come you guys are here when I'm sensing the Jewel Shard from way over there?" asked Kagome, indicating the direction in question with her finger.

"Hiei has it," answered Sango. "He said he was leaving the forest."

"Can we be sure he's not taking the shard for himself?" questioned Miroku, mostly directing the query to Yusuke and Kurama. "He _is_ a demon, and I don't think he cares much about the fate of anyone else."

"Naw, Hiei wouldn't do that," responded Yusuke. "He may be an arrogant asshole, but he's still got some messed up honor code. Taking that shard thing for himself would violate it for sure."

"Besides, if he did that he'd be stranded in this era. I doubt he has that in mind," added Kurama, seeing as Miroku was still unconvinced.

"Are you people done talking yet? My sword doesn't fix itself you know," complained Inuyasha as he started to move towards the forest's exit.

The rest of the group followed Inuyasha's lead, and began the trek through the woods.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

  
The rest of the journey to Totosai's volcano had passed without any incident worth noting, aside from a fiasco involving Kuwabara and several large beehives. However, when they arrived, they found Totosai's hut empty, and decided to spend the night at the base of the volcano while they waited for the blacksmith's return. Kurama and Inuyasha had left to gather any food or supplies they could from the forest shortly after sundown while everyone else made themselves comfortable around the fire. Everyone save Hiei of course.

"…and then I was like 'You're toast!' and he was all like 'Nooooo!', and I punched him into the lava," recounted Kuwabara, animating every word with a ridiculous looking reenactment. "And that's how I beat the big tiger demon Saint Beast guy, Bianca."

"For the last time it was Byakko, stupid," corrected Yusuke and shook his head in exasperation.

"Whatever, the point is that I kicked his ass," concluded Kuwabara.

"You guys seem to have a lot of experience in fighting demons," complimented Kagome. "How did you become Spirit Detectives?"

"Well, Urameshi here d-" began Kuwabara before Yusuke slammed his face into the dirt.

"I…uh…sort of got recruited," said Yusuke, ignoring Kuwabara's muffled curses as he tried to free himself from under Yusuke's palm. "Ugly here tagged along enough times that my boss decided make him an official member."

Kuwabara finally managed to throw off Yusuke's hand, coughing from the lack of oxygen, but still managing to continue cursing. By now, everyone had become used to the boys' antics. They'd even learned to find amusement in them, which they did now much to Kuwabara's chagrin.

"What about Hiei and Kurama?" Sango asked after Kuwabara had calmed down. "Did they get recruited as well?"

"Nope, I had to take 'em down first," answered Yusuke with a smug look. "By myself, I might add."

"They were criminals?" Kagome said with a shock. "Well, I could see Hiei, but Kurama? _He_ was a criminal?"

"Well…it was mostly Hiei," recalled Yusuke, stroking his chin as he tried to remember the details. "Kurama kinda' gave himself up. I had to fight Hiei, though. He almost killed me, too."

"I'm beginning to notice a pattern here…" Miroku remarked, drawing a chuckle from Kuwabara.

"Well, shorty's on our side now, even if he's a little punk," stated Kuwabara, before making his way over to the rations bag. "Any more of that beef in here?"

Kagome quickly rushed over to try and stop Kuwabara from eating all of their remaining food, and the two were soon locked in a battle of wills. The others watched with amusement as the stubborn Spirit Detective tried to convince the equally stubborn school girl to let him satisfy his growling stomach. While the feud continued, a thought came to Sango.

"Hey, Yusuke," she began a little hesitantly. "Why does Hiei refuse sleep in the camp? Does he still not trust us?"

"Don't worry. It's got nothing to do with you people. He's just got a serious loner thing goin' on," replied Yusuke.

The boy paused for a moment before he continued. His face had become somber and his gaze seemed a little distant.

"He's acted like this ever since I've known him. The truth is…I think he's just used to being alone. I'm pretty sure that he never had any friends at all before he joined the team," he said in all seriousness, but the look on his face quickly changed into a lopsided grin before he finished. "But the guy always shows up when there's something that needs killing. Not that I need the help or anything, since I'm such a badass."

Sango shook her head and smiled. One didn't have to know Yusuke long to realize that he couldn't stay serious for more than a few moments at a time.

"Well, I'm gonna' get some shut eye," stated Yusuke with a yawn before finding a comfortable position to sleep in. "Got no idea when this Totosai guy is gonna' show, so I might as well try and get as much sleep as possible."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

By the next morning, Totosai had shown up, but with this fortunate turn of events came so bad tidings. The old blacksmith was being chased by demons, and demanded them destroyed before he fixed the Tetsusaiga.

"Not a chance, old man! You're fixing this sword right now or I'm beating the hell out of you!" roared Inuyasha imperiously upon hearing the demands.

"I won't have time to fix the sword unless you stop them you whelp," reiterated Totosai stoutly. "Use your head for once."

Totosai received a lump on the back of his head for this, but everyone including Inuyasha knew he was right.

"What did you do to get into trouble this time?" asked Kagome, a little exasperated by the whole ordeal.

"Well, a large big bear demon wanted me to make him a weapon that could make him immune to the spiritual powers of humans. Naturally, I refused such a foolish request, but...now what did he do?" he paused momentarily, scratching his head as he tried to remember. "Oh yes, he told a large group of demons that if they killed me, they'd get to keep some of my weapons, so I ran away."

"What a sissy," commented Kuwabara. "Can't even fight a old guy by himself."

"Kuwabara…you got beat up by an old guy too," Yusuke reminded his friend mockingly.

"He wasn't really an old guy, stupid!"

"Yeah, he was a clown. _Much_ less embarrassing."

"Can it, Urameshi!"

"Both of you shut up!" mandated the angry half-demon before turning back to Totosai. "Fine, we'll save you from these demons, but you'd better fix the Tetsusaiga extra good!"

With that, Inuyasha exited the hut, and the others quickly followed. As they prepared for the demons Miroku approached the Spirit Detectives, sans Hiei who had simply decided not to show up for the moment.

"If you don't mind, we'd like to take care of the demons on our own," said the monk. "I doubt these demons are very strong."

"If that is your wish, we'll stay out of the battle if possible," responded Kurama before Yusuke could object. "I'd like to see the extent of your abilities anyway."

"Thank you. We need to keep our skills sharp, and if you three slay too many demons it won't help in that respect at all," answered back Miroku and moved towards the lip of the dormant volcano where Inuyasha and Sango were surveying the forest below.

"Looks like we've got some demons that think the know strategy," remarked Sango as she saw the group of demons in the distance split into two groups. "You tow probably wont even need my help."

"Hell, I could beat 'em all myself if I wanted to," said Inuyasha confidently, cracking his knuckles in anticipation. "Which one o you want Miroku?"

"I'll take the left side, you can have the right. Let's wait for them to come to us, though. These demons don't merit the effort of running towards them."

"Heh, I hear ya', monk."

The two quickly moved into their stated positions to wait for the demons, and Sango walked back towards the others.

"They'll take care of it," she announced as she sat down on a large rock.

"Hn, it would be embarrassing if they couldn't."

Sango was so surprised by Hiei's sudden entrance that she barely avoided jumping in surprise, with Shippou and Kagome sharing her reaction. The fact that he was now standing on a large boulder that had been unoccupied when she was sitting down was startling enough, but his ever icy voice only added to it.

"The half-demon probably can hold his own, but that monk is weak," Hiei observed, ignoring the surprised looks going his way. "It would be fairly amusing to see him be pulverized by some lower level demons."

"Miroku could defeat all of these demons himself," Sango retorted, a little defensively. "Just watch, and I don't think you'll be thinking anything like that afterward."

"Hn."

Miroku would have to wait a few moments to prove Sango right, though, as it was Inuyasha's side that received the first wave. Letting loose a battle cry Inuyasha cut down the first few demons with an energy enhanced strike from his claws with animalistic ferocity.

Despite the easy defeat of their comrades, the other demons continued to charge with considerable idiocy, and Inuyasha rushed to meet them. He simply charged through the first few, but then abruptly leapt into the air and came down right on top of another set of opponents in a barrel roll with his arms outstretched, tearing apart the demons like a blender. Bobbing here, weaving there; he was artfully carving a bloody path through the throng of demons.

The bystanders watched the dog demon with amazement, but their attention quickly shifted to Miroku. Demons of all variety began to charge over his side of the hill in a fury. Some ran on two legs, some on four, and others flew, but every last one of them would soon be wiped out of existence.

Yelling out the name of his Wind Tunnel, Miroku undid the prayer beads around his right hand with a flourish, and the terrible maw opened to greet its new victims. The sudden vacuum of wind was enough to make a few of the more intelligent demons stop, or at least try to. For in truth, their feat or wings may have stopped moving, but it was much too late for them to change course. The very ground they stood on was torn apart by the awesome power of the Wind Tunnel, and both it and the demons were sent flying into the void. After a few moments, there was nothing but scattered debris and Miroku, reapplying the beads to his right hand.

"Fools! You have not won!"

The giant bear demon that Totosai had mentioned earlier had managed to make its way to the rear of the mountain, and was now charging towards Totosai's hut as fast as it could. The other demons had been a decoy. This had been the bear deomon's plan all along.

"I am vi-" began to declare the demon, before he was cut off by a pink ball of energy ripping through him and ultimately disintegrating him down to ashes.

"That wasn't very sneaky of him," remarked Kagome as she put her bow back into its quiver. "Yelling and all."

"Well…damn," summed up Yusuke, unsure as to what question he should ask first.

Hiei, however walked right over to Miroku without hesitation.

"What was that attack and how did you come to wield it?" asked Hiei, although from his tone it seemed more like an order. "It's far too powerful to be a creation of someone as weak as you."

"_That_ was my wind tunnel," answered Miroku as he made a conscious effort to avoid being intimidated by the demon. "And you are correct, it is not my creation. It was Naraku's."

"You expect me to believe that your sworn enemy gave you something that powerful?" scoffed Hiei, clearly determined to get the whole story.

"Believe it or not, it is the truth," said Miroku, and with a sigh he continued. "I suppose that you will learn eventually, so I may as well tell you. Almost fifty years ago, my grandfather hunted Naraku across the land. However, Naraku tricked him, and created the wind tunnel in his right hand. It will be passed down through each generation of my bloodline until Naraku is slain, or there are no successors to be had. Now this would seem a good thing at first, but it is not. With each day, the wind tunnel grows, and eventually, the beads will be unable to control it…"

He did not need to finish for Hiei to understand the rest; that the Wind Tunnel would swallow anyone and anything that came close to him, bet it friend or foe, and that eventually, it would swallow Miroku himself. Hiei looked down at his own right hand, wrapped in tattered bandages. It appeared that the two had at least on thing in common. Both of their right hands had something that gave them immense power but at a cost, although Hiei paid considerably less for his power.

"Hn. Don't think that your sob story or your Wind Tunnel puts you any higher in my eyes," stated Hiei after ending his moment of thought. "You are still a weakling. Just a weakling with a large vacuum."

On that note, Hiei walked away from the visibly offended young monk and towards the entrance to Totosai's hut, where Kuwabara was asking Kagome all sorts of questions about her powers.

"You don't even have to try? Really? You just shoot your little arrow thing and it gets all shiny and blows up demons and stuff?"

"Yeah, basically."

"Is why you can make dog-face smash his head into the ground?"

"Yup."

"Awesome! I wish I could do that. Can you do it to Urameshi?"

As this line of conversation continued Inuyasha was inside the hut, ordering Totosai to start fixing his sword. Unsure as to which punishment they should subject their ears to, Kurama, Yusuke, and Sango stood in the entrance to the hut, looking extremely exasperated.

"How long until the half-demon has his sword fixed?" queried Hiei, his voice filled with impatience.

"Tommorow, based on what Totosai's saying," responded Sango. "So, I suppose we should head back to camp, then."

"Hn, I don't care what you do," snapped Hiei, and in an instant he had disappeared down the ridge of the volcano.

"Why don't we just stay up here?" suggested Yusuke. "I think I saw a couple shacks we could sleep in, and I don't wanna' walk all the way down this damn volcano and back up again."

The other two agreed, and after finally convincing Kuwabara to stop interrogating Kagome, they made to pick up their supply bags and find a camping spot. Sango was about to bend over and pick up her bag when she stopped abruptly and sighed.

"You're just waiting for it, aren't you?" she asked Miroku, who was now standing behind her with his hand already halfway towards her butt.

"Waiting for what? What could I possibly be waiting for, Sango?" inquired Miroku with mock innocence, quickly retracting his hand.

"I swear, if you grab my butt when I pick up this bag…" she warned.

"I would never dream of such a thing," assured Miroku…and when Sango bent over, he began to stroke her butt.

The left side of Miroku's face would be numb for the rest of the day.


	6. Chapter Five: The Great Sibling Rivalry

**To the reviewers:** Thanks for the reviews and support guys (I really was concerned about how that chapter would work out). Though seriously, if there is anything at all that you don't like, comment on it. It will only make the future chapters better, and I may even edit that part of the current one. Constructive criticism is a good thing.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Five: The Great Sibling Rivalry**

Kurama gazed out upon the picturesque image of the sun setting on the small village in front of him as he relaxed against the trunk of a large tree.

_'To think that someday this primitive little village will be the grand metropolis of Tokyo,'_ he thought in amazement. _'It's truly remarkable.'_

The village was apparently used by Inuyasha's party as a staging area, since Kagome could travel to her own time through the nearby well and an elderly priestess named Kaede provided them with free meals and a place to sleep. After failing to find any hint of Naraku's location after two days of uneventful searching, the group had decided to return to the village so Kagome could stock up on supplies and attend school at least once while everyone else could plan the team's next move.

This had put both Yusuke and Hiei in sour moods. Yusuke was still intent on finishing the mission as fast as possible, and Hiei...well…frankly everything put Hiei in a sour mood.

_'He does seem particularly on edge lately though,'_ concluded Kurama_ Perhaps it's that I made him give Kagome the jewel shard from that forest. Or maybe…'_

"Hey, Kurama!" called out Kuwabara from the entrance to a Kaede's home, cutting of Kurama's musings. "Dinner's ready!"

"What are we having?" asked the fox demon as he started to walk towards the hut.

"Some sorta' soup-thing," replied Kuwabara with a shrug. "I just hope there's enough for all of us."

They walked through the front flap of the hut to find everyone, aside from Hiei who was missing as usual, already seated and eating. Kaede herself was also absent, but this was because she was out curing a sick man in a farm just outside of the village.

"Give me a bowl of that stuff, and make it extra big," Kuwabara ordered as he and Kurama took a seat.

"Nice manners, dolt," Yusuke muttered while Kuwabara seized his bowl of stew and shoved spoonful after spoonful into his mouth as fast as he could.

"So, have we figured out our next destination?" inquired Kurama after he had received his stew from an eager-to-serve Shippou.

"Unfortunately, we have absolutely no idea where Naraku is at the moment," answered Miroku. "He's very good at hiding himself."

"Pathetic," Hiei said as he stepped into the hut. "How is it even possible that you can't find a demon with that many jewel shards?"

For a few moments, all the others could do was stare in bewilderment at the fire demon's unexpected entrance. Removing his sheathed sword from his belt and propping it against the wall, Hiei sat down in the only place available, that being between Sango and Kuwabara.

"Well I'll be damned. Three-eyes showed up for dinner," commented Yusuke with a smirk.

"There was nothing to hunt," explained Hiei. "It's not like I'd be around you fools by choice."

"Feh. It figures," Inuyasha grunted, not bothering to stop eating while he spoke. "You're too good for us right up until you need something, and then you expect us to help. We don't have to give you nothin'."

"Cut it out, Inuyasha," chided Sango, and handed Hiei a bowl of stew. "Here. It's still hot."

Miroku couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as Hiei grunted and took the stew from Sango. Nobody else seemed to pay any heed to the seemingly insignificant exchange and had already moved on onto another discussion, but there was something about the situation that made him feel a little uneasy.

"I should be able to sense this Naraku guy. I'm really awesome at that," boasted Kuwabara in an attempt to solve the group's problems.

"I'm afraid that's unlikely, Kuwabara," refuted Kurama. "If it could be done, it would have by now."

"Hold on a second," interjected Shippou, trying his best to mimic Kurama's scholarly tone and posture. "Didn't Naraku's powers weaken for a night a little while ago? Couldn't we just wait until that happens again?"

"That may work, but we'll need to be relatively close to him if we want to pinpoint his location," contested Miroku, his attention now on the conversation. "That means we'll still need some sort of lead to start with."

"Leads? How do you find leads on someone like this?" asked Yusuke skeptically.

"Not leads in the conventional sense, Yusuke," amended Kurama. "I'd say our best bet is to force him to make a move. We should do anything we can to provoke him into coming after us."

"Naraku just sends minions to do his dirty work. He never shows himself," stated Sango. "Besides, we're already Naraku's main adversaries."

"Then half our work is already done," responded Kurama with an assuring smile. "We should be able to figure out the general area he is hiding in based on his attacks."

Inuyasha appeared on the verge of asking how in the hell that was possible, but realized that the answer would be way over his head and decided to remain quiet. After a few moments of silence, Hiei set down his empty bowl and rose to his feet.

"If that's all that needed to be discussed, then I'm leaving," he said on his way out the door. "I've had my fill of idiotic discussions."

"Truthfully, we should all try and get to sleep soon," recommended Miroku after Hiei had disappeared from view. "We've been traveling a lot, and we should all be ready to go when Kagome gets back tomorrow afternoon."

Everyone agreed with his suggestion, and only a couple hours after finishing their dinner, they were all sound asleep.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Yusuke came to consciousness when he felt something bump against his foot. He squinted his eyes to try and see in the darkness, and his eyes adjusted just in time to see Inuyasha silently exiting the hut through the entrance flap.

_'What's he up to?'_ he wondered. _'I'd better follow him.'_

Being careful not to bump anyone like Inuyasha had, he tiptoed out of the hut. When he exited, only the night greeted him, and Inuyasha was nowhere to be seen. While scanning the area, though, he did see Hiei sleeping in a tree no more than thirty meters away from the hut. The sight made him smirk.

_'Would ya' look at that. He's makin' progress. Next thing ya' know, he'll be giving people hugs,'_ thought Yusuke, fighting back a chuckle.

Even though he didn't have an audience, Yusuke couldn't stop himself from coming up wise smart-ass remarks. It was his nature.

_'But back to dog-boy...'_ thought Yusuke as he surveyed the area again._ 'If I can't see him, guess I'll have to sense him,'_

He recalled Inuyasha's energy aura from his memory, and then concentrated on finding it. It didn't take long, since Yusuke had done this same type of thing many times before, and there weren't many strong aura's in the area to begin with. Upon located Inuyasha's aura, Yusuke dashed of in that direction. Normally, he wasn't prone to such sudden acts of effort, but Inuyasha hadn't been the only one he'd sensed. Someone else was with him, someone strong.

He finally caught sight of Inuyasha, and hid behind a rock to try and keep his presence unknown. He did, however, feel the need to see and not just hear what was going on, and therefore poked his head out ever so slightly to get a full view of the area.

Inuyasha was standing in the tall grass of the plane facing four beings. To say the least they were a strange group. The one Yusuke had sensed earlier was standing in front of the others. He was a tall, regal looking fellow with long silver hair and elegant, flowing garments complete with some sort of furry pelt hanging off his right shoulder. The others in the group were far less impressive. One was a tiny imp that made Hiei look like a giant, another was a scaly two headed steed of some kind, and the last one was, of all things, a little girl.

"Sesshomaru! I thought I smelled your stench! What do you want? Why are you here?" demanded Inuyasha, putting a hand on his sword's hilt.

"Just passing through, my dear brother," answered the tall one, though his tone was not nearly as polite as his words. "But since you've had the nerve to impede my progress, I think I'll kill you instead."

"I'd love to see ya' try!" countered Inuyasha and unsheathed the Tetsusaiga

_'Wait…Inuyasha has a brother? And they want to kill each other? But why in the hell…?'_ Yuske wondered, his thoughts becoming extremely confused now.

As Yusuke tried to analyze the situation, Inuyasha leapt through the air at Sesshomaru, bringing down his mighty blade in a downwards strike. All he managed to do was create a large hole in the ground, though, for Sesshomaru easily dodged the attack, and took the opportunity to draw one of the swords dangling from the left side of his belt, a bastard-sword which he wielded on handed. It was only now, as Sesshomaru parried a series of horizontal cuts from Inuyasha that Yusuke realized something.

_'That guy only has one arm! This just keeps getting weirder and weirder.'_ he observed bluntly.

Not only was it getting weirder, it was getting more dangerous. Sesshomaru blocked a cut intended to take off his head, and countered with a kick to his brother's gut that propelled the half-demon backwards through the air. With hardly a moment's hesitation, he fluidly swung his sword downwards, and a wave of blue energy was unleashed from the blade towards his adversary. Inuyasha managed to recover from the kick just in time to escape death but immediately had to raise his sword in order to avoid being cut in half.

The two brothers stood there in a weapon deadlock, each struggling to overpower the other. Normally, Inuyasha would be able to overcome Sesshomaru due to his lack of a left arm, but Inuyasha had been forced to lean back block Sesshomaru's attack, and was thus in a position with very little leverage.

_'That's it. I'm ending this,'_ decided Yusuke, and formed the shape of a gun with the fingers on his right hand.

"Spirit gun!"

The duelists were forced to leap apart before Yusuke's blast created a crater where they had been standing. Neither of them was too pleased about it, either.

"You!" yelled Inuyasha as Yusuke came sauntering out towards the battlefield. "Stay out of this! This is my business!"

"Can it, Fido. I'm taking over from here," stated the boy as he stepped in front of Inuyasha and began to size up Sesshomaru.

"You got no right! This is a-" Inuyasha began to protest, waving his word about indignantly.

"What? A family matter? Give me a break," said Yusuke with disgust. "First, it stops being just a family matter when you start swinging swords at each other. Second, you were losing, and I _never_ lose."

"Listen, punk, you've got no idea what in the hell your talking about! I'm fighting him! Period!" bellowed Inuyasha livid with fury.

"If I lose he's all yours," Yusuke said with a grin. "Promise."

"Feh, fine," conceded Inuyasha with a huff. "If you wanna' get yourself killed it 'aint my problem."

"All right then, here's the deal," declared Yusuke, looking intensely towards Sesshomaru. "I fight you. If I kick your ass, you leave and stay out of our way, and if you kick my ass, then you two freaks can start beating the crap out of each other again. Seem fair to you, or are you as much of a sissy as you look?"

"Do not speak so to Lord Sesshomaru!" yelled the little imp in an annoying little voice. "He could crush a mortal like yourself with just one finger!"

"Was I talkin' to you, midget?" said Yusuke, giving the imp an intimidating look.

The imp gave out a small yelp and hid behind the two-headed beast in fear. The little girl, however, simply looked at Sesshomaru with worry and anticipation.

"If it is your wish to die, then I shall grant it," threatened Sesshomaru, and sheathed his sword. "I'll kill you without even drawing my sword. Tokijin's power would be wasted on a mortal such as you."

"Big talk from a one armed guy wearing eye liner," taunted Yusuke as he got into his fighting stance. "Let's see if you can back it up."

Instantly, the standoff ended, and Sesshomaru dashed towards Yusuke with poison gas streaming off of his hand. Seeing what was coming, Yusuke went airborne, and Sesshomaru's poison nails hit nothing but air. However, the demon took advantage of Yusuke's lack of maneuverability in the air and sent an energy whip flying at the boy with a flick of his wrist. Fending of the whip with his left hand, Yusuke pointed his right fist towards the demon and gave a triumphant smirk.

"Shotgun!"

The storm of blue energy bolts lit up the night as they flew towards Sesshomaru. The demon managed to avoid most of them, but one clipped him in the shoulder, followed by two in the chest. They didn't hurt him that much, but they were enough to throw him off balance and prevent him from moving, which was exactly what Yusuke had needed. The result was Yusuke charging right at Sesshomaru and landing a devastating haymaker that sent the demon hurtling through the air.

"Still think you don't need that sword?" jeered Yusuke as Sesshomaru fell to the ground with a thud.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" called out the little girl starting to race over to where he had landed.

"I'm fine, Rin," assured Sesshomaru as he stood and dusted himself off. "You should find some cover. It may become dangerous here."

"Yes, my lord!" complied Rin eagerly, and ran over to the two headed beast. "Let's go, Ah-Un."

Yusuke watched as the girl led the beast towards the forest, followed by the frightened little imp. He shook his head as he thought about the oddity of the situation.

"Man, you're one messed up guy," Yusuke said, still smirking. "A one-armed demon with a feminine side who would kill his brother in an instant, but you let a little kid tag along with you? Maybe you'll make sense when you're unconscious."

As if Yusuke had never spoken, Sesshomaru once again unsheathed Tokijin, and ran right at Yusuke. The first attack was a stab aimed for the boy's heart, which Yusuke easily ducked, but he was kneed in the chin by the follow up attack. He managed to regain his balance just in time to jump backwards and avoid a slice intended to decapitate him. However, he was once again hit by a quick follow up attack, though this time it was a sidekick into his right kidney. He managed to absorb the blow, though, and stayed standing. This allowed him to lash out at Sesshomaru with a kick from his right leg, and forced the demon to momentarily back off.

"All right, now I'm gonna' get serious!" Yusuke declared, the arrogant tone now mixed with one of rage. "That means it's lights out for you!"

With a primal scream, the air around him seemingly exploded as his spirit energy burst to life from within. Too angry to wait even another instant, he leapt at Sesshomaru with unmatched tenacity. His fists tore through the air like they were fired out of a machine gun, and forced Sesshomaru on the defense momentarily. However, Sesshomaru was the one with the sword, and when he finally got in a slash at the boy, the battle changed.

Sesshomaru swung the blade in a deadly arc at Yusuke, which the boy avoided and then attempted to counter. After avoiding the attack, Sesshomaru made his own counter with Tokijin, and the process repeated itself for what seemed like several minutes. It would have been fairly boring to watch…were they not moving so fast that the untrained eye would see nothing but a blur. Even Inuyasha was having a little trouble counting all of the cuts, punches, and kicks that had been dodged as the two zipped this way and that all over the battlefield trying to gain an advantage.

Finally, Sesshomaru leapt away, tired of the repetitive sequence. Before Yusuke could act, he raised Tokijin above his head.

"Die," he commanded, and brought the blade down as he had done earlier against Inuyasha.

Once again the blue wave of energy sped towards its target, only this time the target did not dodge. Instead Yusuke let his spirit energy swirl about him in a protective barrier, and, leaped headlong into the torrent of energy. For an instant, it appeared that he had been disintegrated by the attack, but then he emerged from the other end, with his right index finger and thumb forming the shape of a gun that was aimed right at his opponent.

"Spirit Gun!" he roared, and his signature beam of blue energy leapt from his fingertip.

Sesshomaru was able to raise Tokijin into a defensive position and get his feat set for the attack, but he had no time to try and dodge. The demonic weapon held off the blast for a moment, but it was quickly overcome, and the demon's entire upper body was enveloped in the blue energy. Unable to resist any further, he was carried backwards by the blast until it finally evaporated and he once again found himself lying face up in the dirt.

"You should be grateful," panted Yusuke with his anger now gone and the cockiness returned. "I didn't have much time to charge it up, so it wasn't at its full strength. Otherwise you'd be dead."

"I doubt it," Sesshomaru managed to say between labored breathes as he slowly rose to his knees, and finely stood his feet, swaying dizzily. "My attack took a lot out of you as well."

While the Lord of the West was indeed right that Yusuke had used a lot of power to break through Sesshomaru's attack, he hadn't received any actual damage since he had surrounded himself with a barrier. Sesshomaru, on the other hand, had been caught off guard, and felt the full force of the Spirit Gun. As such he took a lot of damage. The clothes on his torso had been ripped to shreds, and what remained was covered in blood from the wounds all over his body, including one on his forehead that bled profusely.

"Face it, I beat the hell out of you," said Yusuke triumphantly as he noticed Sesshomaru's condition. "Now get outa' my sight."

"You have _not_ defeated me," denied Sesshomaru, but when he tried to step forward he was forced to use his sword like a cane to hold him up. "However, I cannot waste any more time toying with you now. I shall finish you later. Rin!"

"Yes, my lord?" asked the little girl as she popped her head out of the bushes she had been watching from.

"Get Ah-Un. We're leaving."

"Right away, Lord Sesshomaru!"

Inuyasha and Yusuke looked on as Sesshomaru wearily mounted the beast and slowly rode off into the hilly grassland with Rin and Jaken in tow. Only when Sesshomaru was completely out of view did Inuyasha sheathe his sword.

"I hate to say I told ya' so…" said Yusuke, flashing his trademark smirk at the half-demon. "Wait…no I don't."

"Feh. Don't let it get to your head, punk." snorted Inuyasha, and turned to leave.

Not being insulted by Inuyasha was about as close to a compliment as most people would ever get from him, so Yusuke simply chuckled and wearily began to follow. However before Yusuke could even three steps, a callous voice came from behind the two, almost making Yusuke fall down in surprise while Inuyasha whirled around, hand on his sword.

"You should have killed him," stated Hiei. "He could prove a nuisance."

"Geez, Hiei! I thought you were asleep," Yusuke said with a dramatic sigh of relief. "One of these times you're going to give me a heart attack."

"One can only hope," retorted Hiei, though there was no hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Don't worry about that loser," spoke up Inuyasha, answering Hiei's original question. "If he shows his ugly mug again, I'll cut it off."

_'And I thought I had a messed up family…'_ thought Yusuke, before suddenly yawning, overcome with exhaustion.

"Damn. Let's head back," he suggested as he rubbed his eyes. "I need some shut eye after that."

"I'll stay out a little while longer. You never know with Sesshomaru…" decided Inuyasha, before bounding off into the night.

By that time, Hiei had already departed for his tree, leaving Yusuke to walk back to the hut alone in the moonlight.


	7. Chapter Six: The Siege

**To the reviewers:** I know this is getting redundant, but thanks for supporting the fic. I'm sorry about the long update, but this one is the longest chapter by far (over 6,000 words), so hopefully that makes up for it. Enjoy!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Six: The Siege **

Yusuke awoke the next morning feeling only slightly less exhausted then he had last night.

_'Damn. I didn't think I'd used up this much energy beating that guy,'_ he thought as he rubbed his chin, which was still a little sore.

"It's bout time you woke up, sleepy," greeted Kagome cheerfully as she shoved a plate of food into his face. "Rise and shine!"

"Kagome? I thought that you weren't gonna' be back until this afternoon," he said groggily as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"It turns out that there was no school today," she replied with a little laugh. "I've been here in the feudal era so often that I've totally forgotten the school's schedule."

Yusuke shook his head and started to eat his breakfast. After a few bites, though, he realized that he and Kagome were the only ones in the hut.

"Hey, where's everyone else?" he asked, a little puzzled.

"Oh, they woke up a couple hours ago," Kagome answered. "You were out like a light, though, so everyone decided to wait until you were awake. After all, Inuyasha did say that you fought Sesshomaru, so you probably needed the rest."

"Aw man! Now I've got to hurry up my breakfast!" he complained, and immediately began to wolf down his food.

Before Kagome could tell him that there was no rush, he had already swallowed the last bite, and was racing out the door. With an exasperated sigh, she followed him.

"All right! I'm all ready, so let's go kick some ass!" announced Yusuke as he approached the rest of the group except (shock of all shocks) Hiei, who had already left.

"Quite enthusiastic today, aren't we?" commented Kurama with an amused smile.

"That's 'cause today we're gonna' find that Naraku guy and beat his face in so I can go home!" declared Yusuke, smacking his fist into his palm for emphasis. "I can feel it!"

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Over three days had passed since Yusuke had made his bold declaration. Not only had they failed to find Naraku, they had failed to encounter much of anything at all. Dissatisfaction was apparent on Yusuke's face as he surveyed the scene of everyone sitting around the fire eating their dinner. To him it was…well…boring as hell.

"This sucks," stated Yusuke finally, before taking another bite out of his fish.

"What are you talking about, Urameshi? This fish is awesome!" replied Kuwabara, who was now tearing into his fourth helping.

"Not the fish, stupid," Yusuke corrected with impatience. "It sucks that we haven't found Naraku yet. I'm sick of this damned camping trip."

"What, you scared of sleeping outside or somthin'?" taunted Inuyasha

"He'll make his presence known soon enough, Yusuke," promised Kurama before Yusuke could start to hurl insults at Inuyasha. "In the meantime we'll just have to be patient."

Yusuke muttered some unintelligible, but doubtlessly obscene, complaints as he turned his attention back to his fish. Everyone silently continued their meal for a few minutes, until Hiei stepped out of the undergrowth and into the camp.

"Kurama, there's something you should see," he said without bothering to even look at the others.

"What is it?" asked Miroku, rising quickly to his feet.

"I believe I said 'Kurama', not 'lecherous buffoon'," snapped Hiei impatiently.

Looking a little embarrassed, Miroku sat back down while Kurama rose and followed Hiei into the woods.

"That was uncalled for…" commented Miroku with a sigh, practically begging for sympathy.

"But true," added Sango, showing that she had none.

As the banter continued behind them, Hiei and Kurama made their way through the forest silently. When they came out on the other side, they found themselves standing on a ridge overlooking a series of canyons, and Kurama immediately saw what it was that Hiei felt he needed to see. In the midst of the canyons was a village, protected by a sturdy wall with four gates. The gates facing to the north and south each corresponded with a canyon n the same direction, which served as four paths towards the village. While this was certainly noteworthy in that it provided superb natural defense, it was the eastern and western gates that caught Kurama's attention.

These two gates didn't correspond with canyons, but rather they each had a sutra covered rope fence in the shape of one. To the untrained eye, this would seem insignificant, but to Hiei and Kurama, the fence appeared as a crackling barrier of spiritual energy emanating from a large temple in the center of the village. Not only that, but the flow of energy from the temple to the fences created a shield above the village as well, defending against a demonic attack from above.

"What do you make of it?" asked Hiei after Kurama had the chance to take it all in.

"Well, it's certainly well defended from any demon attacks," stated Kurama bluntly. "Should demons ever attack this village they would be herded into attacking just those four gates, and from there an effective defense would be quite manageable…"

"I can see that," interrupted Hiei with annoyance. "But does it mean anything to us?"

"It's not demonic, so I don't think Naraku has anything to do with it," he said after a short pause to gather his thoughts. "It's possible that the barrier is powered by shards of the Sacred Jewel, but even if it's not, we should go there simply because it will provide a good place to rest and recuperate."

"And you don't think the fact that we ourselves are demons will cause a problem?" Hiei inquired skeptically. "Or can I expect to fight a bunch of humans with pitchforks?

"Fortunately for us, we're traveling with a monk and a demon hunter. As long as we are with them, we will be accepted, I think," Kurama assured, albeit with slight hesitation. "I shall go inform the others."

Kurama returned to the camp and found everyone sitting around trying to pass the time between eating dinner and going to sleep.

"Hiei's found a rather…unique village up ahead," announced Kurama when everyone had noticed his arrival. "I suggest we stay there for the night. It's both safer and more comfortable than sleeping in the wilds."

"C'mon people, let's go!" ordered Yusuke, jumping to his feet with excitement. "I don't know about you, but that sure sounds better than sleeping on dirt again."

"The little guy did something useful for once, huh?" commented Inuyasha as everyone made ready to leave the camp. "It's about time. He hasn't done nothin' for us up 'til now."

"Can't you do anything without complaining?" scolded Kagome.

The group eventually managed to stop talking long enough to make it out of the forest and down into the canyon, where they were fast approaching the village's southern gate. Hiei met up with them halfway, seeing as he couldn't make it into the village without being in their company.

"I've never seen a village with such elaborate defenses against demons…" Sango noted, now close enough to see the barriers.

"Humans only go through that much trouble protecting themselves for one of two reasons," responded Hiei. "Either they're coveting something valuable, or they're complete cowards. It's usually the later."

Sango was about to reply when Hiei suddenly whirled around and drew his sword. Though this startled her greatly, she noticed that his eyes were looking skyward, and not at her. Everyone followed his gaze to see something rapidly descending downwards towards them – a woman riding upon a giant feather.

"Kagura," growled Inuyasha as the wind sorceress in question landed on the ground and reapplied the now normal sized feather to her hair.

"Well, it looks like you've gained a few more losers for your little gang, Inuyasha," greeted Kagura with a mocking smile on her face.

"Tell me…if you get decapitated by a loser, then what does that make you?" Hiei threatened, brandishing his katana menacingly.

"I didn't come here to pick a fight, little man," Kagura retorted, but upon seeing Hiei's eyes become suddenly more deadly, she turned back to Inuyasha. "I've just come to deliver a message from Naraku."

"I've got a message too: shove it up your ass!" yelled Yusuke, unable to remain silent after being called a "loser".

"Naraku will attack that village over there tomorrow night, whether you are there or not," continued Kagura, ignoring Yusuke completely. "That is all he wanted to tell you, so farewell!"

A sudden gust of wind burst out from around Kagura as she removed the feather from her hair and took to the skies, once again riding the giant feather.

"The fool. She makes it too easy," Hiei said as he sheathed his sword. "I'll simply follow her to Naraku and destroy him."

"Not likely. Look," refuted Kurama, pointing up towards Kagura as she rose above the clouds. "Her altitude is too high, and no matter how fast you are, you still have to deal with terrain, so she will lose you."

"Hn," grunted Hiei as he finally complied and started to walk towards the village.

"I don't get it, why would he tell us his plan?" voiced Shippou, scratching his head in confusion. "Now we can just protect the village from him."

"He must want us at that village for some reason," Miroku answered. "And we really have no choice but to go there. We can't just let those villagers be slaughtered."

"But can't they fight him off with that barrier? Do they even _need_ our help?" proposed Inuyasha.

"If it weren't Naraku they were dealing with, then they probably wouldn't need us," replied Sango. "But I don't think they'll stand a chance against him."

"Then let's go already!" demanded Kuwabara, racing ahead of the group. "We gotta' tell those people!"

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Getting inside the village had been easy enough, thanks to Miroku's status as a monk combined with a bit of his usual charm. The same proved true for gaining an audience with the village's headman, but once they were actually meeting with the headman, things got a little more difficult. It had to be expected, of course. They _were_ total strangers asking for control over the village's defenses to prevent a demon attack that only they knew would occur.

While the shrewd man would be wary of such requests, only the stubborn man would refuse to consider them. Unfortunately, it appeared that the village headman was the latter. Elderly, but still giving off the appearance of being physically fit, the headman clearly had been a warrior in his youth, which have might explained his proud nature. That being said, there is a fine line between pride and stupidity, and the headman was close to crossing that line.

"Our village has warded off such attacks in the past. We have no need of mercenaries to defend ourselves, and we certainly don't need mercenaries that want access to our temple," mandated the headman, arms crossed in defiance.

"I can assure you we are not mercenaries, your lordship," interjected Kurama, seeing as Miroku was failing to convince the man. "We ask for absolutely nothing in return."

"And you'd do it out of the kindness of your hearts? Ha!" responded the headman cynically. "All the more reason for suspicion. Why should I even believe you? You'll probably just raid the temple and leave!"

"Why would we bother to meet with you if demons weren't coming? That would only hinder us were we thieves," countered Kurama, though little did the headman know this was coming from experience.

"You make a point…" consented the headman, but the lapse in stubbornness was only momentary. "But regardless, we don't need you to defend the village anyway. I doubt your nearly strong enough to actually fight a horde of demons. Why you-"

"SHUT UP, DAMNIT!" roared Kuwabara suddenly, slamming his fist on the floor as exclamation. "We're just trying to help you guys, and you're too stupid to let us! You wanna' see if we're strong enough? Fine!"

Rising to his feet, Kuwabara extended his right hand in front of him. The headman and his guards all reached for their weapons in alarm, and Yusuke was about to go restrain Kuwabara before Kurama motioned for him to stay seated.

"Spirit Sword!" Kuwabara yelled, and instantly the crackling blade of energy came to life in his hand.

The headman and his guards stared dumbfounded at Kuwabara's Spirit Sword, completely awestruck by the display. The headman opened his mouth as if to say something, but found himself speechless and closed it.

"And if that impressed ya', then you'll be even more impressed when you find out that I'm not even the strongest guy here," continued Kuwabara, still holding his Spirit Sword. "So, Mr. Chief-guy, still don't want us to help?"

It took a moment for the headman to regain his composure enough to respond, but after clearing his throat, he was able to speak again, though with much less bravado.

"I've reconsidered your offer," he stated. "You may have access to the temple and take part the defense of the village. My guard, however, will be keeping an eye on you during your tenure here, so don't try anything funny."

"Thank you, your lordship," said Miroku, bowing his head courteously.

The others followed suit, although Yusuke had to tug on Kuwabara's sleeve to remind him. Having completed their formalities, they were led to the guest chambers of the headman's mansion.

"That was pretty gutsy back there, Kuwabara," complimented Kagome once their escort had departed. "Those guards could've tried to kill you."

"Actually… I kinda' forgot those guys were there," Kuwabara admitted, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "So, I didn't really think about that."

"I was about to congratulate ya', kid, but now all I can think of is how much of a moron you are," chimed in Inuyasha, never missing an opportunity to insult someone.

"Inuyasha, sit," commanded Kagome, and with a slight glow from his beaded necklace, Inuyasha was slammed face-first into the floor.

"Kagome, could I talk to you for a second?" requested Kurama while Inuyasha was dusted himself off, muttering all forms of curses.

"What is it, Kurama?" she inquired, a bit puzzled as to why she was needed.

"I want you and Miroku to go investigate the temple tonight so that I can have a strategy by tomorrow morning," stated Kurama. "Make sure to check carefully for any shards of the Sacred Jewel. They may have figured out a way to at least dampen their aura."

"Right, I'll get Miroku," she concurred, and left to retrieve the monk, who was ever so carefully working his way towards Sango's rear end.

Kurama shook his head as he thought about just how strange their little entourage was when he felt something tug at his pant leg. He looked down to see Shippou looking up at him with a concerned look on his face.

"You've got a plan to beat Naraku, right, Kurama?" he asked expectantly.

"I will by morning," Kurama assured the little fox demon, patting him on the head. "You just get some sleep."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

While the village slept, lifeless eyes gazed down upon it from behind a white baboon mask, and through those eyes gazed Naraku. Some would call him a coward for using a mere puppet to venture beyond his castle walls rather than use his own body, but less assuming beings would call him cunning for it. Indeed, Naraku was as cunning as any being in existence, for it was through cunning alone that he had acquired his power and his prestige, which was now feared throughout the land, and it was through cunning that he had orchestrated this latest trap.

_'Inuyasha and his little friends are in perfect position for death,'_ he thought with twisted satisfaction. _'This village and its defenses may appear to them as a strength, but it is in fact their greatest weakness. These four gates, which they think will make my forces easier to defeat, will divide them, and they will be slain one by one by my minions.'_

Suddenly, though, he paused in his gloating. This plan had been devised to destroy Inuyasha and his friends…but these four new faces that had recently joined him were unexpected.

_'No matter, they are merely youths. One or two may be a demon of some kind, but I doubt any of them are strong enough to be of any real consequence,'_ he convinced himself. _'Besides, my promise of Sacred Jewel shards to any demon who brigs me Inuyasha's head has added every demon in the region to my horde. Nothing can stand in my path, even Inuyasha's little gang.'_

The puppeteer's sadistic smile was reflected on the puppet's face as it disappeared into the night.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

The next morning was lacking in the lighthearted atmosphere that usually came with breakfast these days. Everyone ate quickly, and without much conversation, eager to hear of the strategy Kurama had devised during the night, though Hiei simply wanted to spend as little time in their company as possible. When breakfast had been finished, they gathered in the garden, where Kurama awaited them.

"So then, lets hear this plan of yours," voiced Inuyasha once everyone had gotten situated.

"Before I discuss my strategy, I must first speak of our enemy's strategy," stated Kurama simply. "Now, if Naraku is indeed as skilled in these matters as you have said before, than there is only one strategy I could see him using against this village. He has no choice but to attack the four gates due to the barrier, which shall be discussed later. He will attack all four gates at once so we are forced to divide our forces. However, that would still leave him at a tactical disadvantage, and in order to overcome that he will need to win one of the four gates-"

"Well that's easy, we just don't die," scoffed Inuyasha, clearly skeptical of Kurama's supposed intellect.

"It's not quite that simple," Kurama answered before continuing. "Since he needs one of the gates, he will likely choose one gate and overload it with the majority of his forces. At the other gates he will send enough demons to force us to actively defend that gate, meaning we cannot simply all aid the overloaded gate. As to which gate he will overload, it will likely be a random selection, thus making it unpredictable."

After taking a moment to catch his breath and allow the others to soak everything discussed to that point, he continued.

"There are two possible ways to counter this," he explained. "The first strategy would be gather all the villagers at one defendable point and allow the demons to breach the village so that we could fight as a combined force at one position."

"But that would defeat the purpose of defending the village in the first place," observed Sango, now in full understanding of his logic.

"Correct. That forces us to defend the gates as Naraku had intended all along. However…" the fox demon said, allowing a small smile to appear on his face as he spoke. "I have devised a variation of such a strategy that will give us an extremely high chance of success."

"Yeah, yeah. You're a freakin' genius, we get it already," interjected Yusuke, impatience written all over his face. "Get on with the damned plan already."

"If you so insist, Yusuke," replied Kurama politely, though with an amused expression. "Last night, Miroku and Kagome discovered that the barrier surrounding this village is in fact maintained by an order of monks that reside at the temple here. They do this in shifts, of course, so they can eat and sleep, but that is besides the point. Seeing as the power of the barrier comes from sacred energy, Miroku and Kagome will contribute their own power to the barrier."

"Me?" gasped a surprised Kagome. "I told you, I'm not really a priestess, or at least not a normal one. Besides, what would that even do?"

"It would actually increase the power of the barrier several fold, since the two of you posses sacred auras well above the normal level," he answered. "This will prevent Naraku from finding any other way to gain entrance to the village, since apparently the barrier extends underground as well. While this is just a precaution, both of you would be at a disadvantage fighting on the field, since Naraku is likely to bring those poison insects you told me about earlier, and Kagome simply wont excel against these numbers."

"Hey! I don't need to be protected! I've fought plenty of Naraku's demons before!" shouted Kagome indignantly.

"And what do you plan to do when you run out of arrows?" sneered Hiei. "Hit the demons with your bow?"

"Yes, actually, I do!" Kagome retorted, much to everyone's exasperation.

"I meant no offense," apologized Kurama, doing his best to keep a straight face. "I simply meant that you'd be more useful at the temple."

"Yeah. Give me a break from saving you all the time, already," added Inuyasha, making an effort to appear unconcerned. "Just stay out of trouble this time, ok?"

"Fine," Kagome said, finally resigned to her role. "But you'd better be careful out there, or I'll never forgive you."

"Yeah, yeah," dismissed the half-demon, hoping to get off this line of conversation as quickly as possible.

"Getting back to the plan," cut in Kurama, attempting to regain everyone's attention. "The rest is very simple. Yusuke will take the west gate, Inuyasha will have the east, Hiei the north, and Kuwabara and I shall take the south. Sango, you and Kirara will act as our reinforcements, and thereby are the key to our success. You will be positioned above the village before the battle commences, and from there you should be able to judge which gate has been overloaded. Once this is determined, you will assist whoever is at that gate."

"Right, I understand," Sango stated with a nod of confirmation.

"Hey, what about me?" asked Shippou suddenly, jumping in front of Kurama to get his attention. "I can fight too!"

"Don't worry, Shippou, I saved the most important job for you," Kurama said with a kind smile. "You're going to stay with all the villagers and make sure they stay safe. Can you do that for me?"

"You can count on me, Kurama!" Shippou announced as he thumped his chest in a salute. "I'll keep those villagers safe!"

"Good. Now, does anyone have any questions?" asked Kurama, to which there was no response save Kuwabara grumbling about not getting his own gate. "Very well, then that concludes this discussion. Make sure to be in your positions by sundown."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Sango looked downwards towards the village as Kirara slowed to a stop , positioning them around a hundred meters above the top of the barrier.

_'I'd better be careful of that,'_ she reminded herself. _'It would be a long fall if that barrier knocked me off Kirara.'_

She turned her attention back to the scene below. She could still make out the others waiting at their respective gates even at this height, though Hiei proved harder to see due to his black cloak…and his stature. All that remained was to wait for Naraku's horde. They did not have to wait long. From all four directions, legions of demons made their presence known as they charged each gate, roaring and howling as they went. In the east and west, the spiritual barrier fences intensified in response, and some of the weaker demons who were too close to then were vaporized instantly.

Then, the gate's defenders went to work. Inuyasha loosed the Wind Scar upon the demons at his gate, decimating scores of them in one strike. A hail of blue energy bolts at the west gate signified Yusuke's Shotgun taking down the first wave of demons. In the south, Kuwabara was wielding a glowing Spirit Sword in each hand, cutting down any demons that came near, while Kurama twirled his Rose Whip about him with deadly precision. The scene to the north, however, was far less glamorous. While the others were using attacks to take out multiple demons at once, Hiei was forced to take care of each demon one by one. Granted, his unsurpassed speed negated this as a true disadvantage, but when Sango looked down upon the northern gate, Hiei looked like nothing more than an insect against the mass of demons converging on the gate.

'_I can't believe that he's guarding that gate all by himself…'_ thought Sango with both amazement and a little concern. _'He'll probably be just fine, though. Kurama wouldn't put him in a position to get killed.'_

The demon exterminator pried her gaze away from the north and surveyed the whole battlefield, searching for the direction Naraku's reinforcements would come. Finally, after several minutes of waiting, she saw them. A large group of demons was moving to reinforce the northern gate.

"Kirara, take us down at the northern gate," she ordered, and with a roar Kirara began their descent.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Hiei took a short pause in the battle to survey his enemies. The demons' advance had been temporarily slowed after he had decapitated a large demon and kicked both head and body into the next wave. He removed his now blood soaked cloak and tossed it the wayside as he prepared to launch himself at the next group of attackers. He didn't have to, though, since a giant boomerang swooped down from above and ripped them all to shreds.

He looked upwards to see Sango catch her returning boomerang and leap down from Kirara, landing next to him in a crouch.

"Kirara!" she called up to her mount. "Go make sure the others are all right!"

The beast roared an affirmative and sped off through the night to obey her orders.

"I take it that most of the demons are here, then?" asked Hiei as he shifted into an attacking stance.

"Yes, so we sh-"

"Good."

Without further warning, Hiei charged into the demons with his usual blinding speed. He appeared almost invisible as he darted through the horde, with the light that reflected off his sword and the spout of blood that followed being the only indicators of his position. Not one to remain idle, Sango flung her boomerang into the demons, and when it returned she wasted no time in sending it right at the next wave.

For a while, they fought like this, and countless demons fell before them, but when one was killed, it felt like ten took its place. Sango was beginning to feel a little fatigued, and shouldered her boomerang for just a moment so she could catch her breath. This left her completely defenseless against the purple blades of energy that ripped through the next wave of demons from behind and continued on their path right towards her.

She cried out in pain and released her grip on her boomerang as the blades tore through her armor and into her flesh. They had been slightly off target, which saved her from an immediate death, but they had been close enough to do serious damage. One had cut into her left shoulder, another had clipped her right thigh, and one more had sliced into her abdomen, leaving a deep gash that bled profusely.

Even as she fell towards the ground she could her Kagura laugh and let loose with another one of her Dance of Blades, and at that moment, it seemed that she was about to die. To her good fortune, however, Hiei intervened and, quickly tucking her under in his left arm, carried her out of harms way right before the blades reached her. The ground where she had once stood was completely decimated by the attack, throwing her abandoned boomerang off to the wayside in a cloud off dust, almost as demonstration of the fate she had just avoided. Upon landing on the ground, Hiei did an about face so that he could face his assailant, and a split second later was forced leap out of the way of a third barrage from Kagura, with Sango still safely in his grasp. However, he now had her squarely in his sights.

"Die, witch!" he commanded, and whipped his sword at Kagura, who was well over fifty meters away.

The edge of the blade missed her artery by mere centimeters, leaving the stunned wind sorceress with a long cut on the right side of her neck. Preferring not to risk another encounter with Hiei, she hastily retreated towards the rear, using the other demons as cover.

Hiei, however, wasn't at all concerned with her survival, and had instead made his own retreat back towards the gate, where he gently set Sango down and rolled her onto her back to check her wounds. She was still conscious, but she was extremely weak from the blood loss caused by the gash on her abdomen. Indeed, Hiei's left arm was now covered in her blood.

_'She will die soon if that wound is not sealed,'_ he observed. _'This battle has to end now if she is to survive.'_

The demons had pulled back a little to give Kagura room, and Hiei was able to leap a good distance forward, so as to put as much space as possible between him and Sango while still facing the demon horde. She would need to be far away from him for what was to come next. He removed his headband and tossed it aside, revealing his Jagan which was now glowing with a fierce intensity as he began to raise his spirit energy. Within moments, the air around him shone like a beacon with his power. This alone was enough to cause any demons that had begun to resume their advance to immediately halt again, either from simple fear or a primitive instinct. This allowed for him to remain relatively unrushed, which was of great preference considering the difficulty of what he was about to do. In one swift motion, he tore off the bandages that covered his right forearm, revealing a tattoo of a black dragon coiled about it. He slowly brought his right arm in front of his face, and suddenly black flames burst to life around it.

"All of you cretins have been chosen as sacrifices to the dragon," he declared with a deadly calm in his voice. "Not one of you will survive its wrath."

He then clenched his hand into a fist, and the black flames intensified, seemingly consuming his entire arm. He then sharply brought the fiery arm back as if in preparation for a punch, and the look on his face changed to one of unbridled fury.

"Dragon of the Darkness Flame!"

His voice boomed through the canyon as he thrust his arm forward, and from it burst a massive dragon made entirely of black fire. The great serpent let out a terrifying roar as it rushed towards Naraku's horde. Every last one of the demons was paralyzed by fear, unable to even utter a scream before they were incinerated by the burning monstrosity. It burned through the demons in seconds and was soon rushing at the only one left in its path, Kagura. She herself had a look of horror upon her face that rivaled that of the lesser demons, and now it was her death that seemed a certainty. However, she would be spared, for a white haired little girl clad in a white gown leaped in front of her seemingly out of nowhere and held forth a mirror.

Sango had rolled onto her stomach and turned herself towards the battlefield in time to see Hiei unleash the dragon, and when she saw Kana appear in front of Kagura her eyes widened in fear.

"Hiei, get out of there!" she yelled, wincing in pain at the effort.

Her warning went unheeded, and Hiei just stood there as the dragon rammed into Kana's mirror full force, and was redirected back towards its master. The dragon slammed into the fire demon in an explosion of black fire, and Sango had to shield her eyes from the light that came with it. When her eyes had readjusted, Hiei was replaced with a tower of black fire, still burning where the demon had once stood.

Kagura was now recovered from her initial shock, and once she saw the resulting inferno, she let out a cruel laugh, and walked forward, stopping when she was at a safe distance from the flames.

"That's the end of him," she announced with a smirk, before turning her attention to Sango. "Now to send him some company..."

Sango could only clench her teeth in frustration while Kagura raised her fan above her head in preparation for the final strike. However, she froze when the black inferno between her and Sango suddenly rose to new heights, filled with new life. For several moments, the black flames burned with renewed intensity, and then dispersed in a flash of heat and light. Kagura's expression changed from stunned bewilderment to shear horror as the smoke cleared, revealing Hiei standing before her with steam streaming off of his body.

"Y-you…but...but how?" stuttered Kagura, taking a step backwards from the fire demon.

"It's not that hard to understand," responded Hiei with a terrifyingly cold voice. "The dragon didn't consume me. I consumed the dragon, and all of its power."

Kagura was unable to speak, and instead took another shaky step backwards. Kana, being devoid of emotion, shared no such fear, and stepped in front of her "sister" clutching her mirror.

"Hn," scoffed Hiei with disgust. "That thing may have turned the Dragon of the Darkness Flame back on me, but it is useless to you now. Let me show you!"

Hiei leapt high up in the air, and positioned his fists in preparation to strike. Kana raised her mirror in response, trying to use it to suck out Hiei's soul as she had done with other opponents in the past. However, even that would require a small fraction of time to execute, and Hiei was far too fast for any maneuver that required any time at all. In fact, his speed was so great that it would appear to an observer that he had teleported down in front of Kana, and naturally she had no time to react as he ducked under the mirror and delivered a powerful left uppercut to her chin.

The force of the blow knocked Kana unconscious, and the mirror slipped from her hands as they went slack. Fortunately for Kana, Kagura was already airborne, and caught her "sister" on her giant feather before the demon girl hit the ground.

"You won't escape!" declared Hiei furiously and pursued the duo as Kagura's feather skimmed the ground, trying to find an opportunity to safely ascend.

Kagura twisted her torso around to face her pursuer and unleashed her Dance of Blades to try and slow him down, but he simply beat the purple energy blades out of the way with his fists and continued to race after them. Suddenly, a strange creature with many tentacles and wearing a white baboon skin leapt into Hiei's path from out of the brush, wrapping its tentacles around Hiei as if to squeeze the life out of him. The fire demon simply grabbed a tentacle in each hand and ripped the thing in two, but the time he used to free himself had been enough to let Kagura and Kana rise into the night sky and escape.

He cursed under his breath as he saw the feather rise into the clouds above and out of reach, but he quickly forgot about that upon hearing labored breathing from behind him. He whirled around to see Sango attempting to stand up, the front of her armor now completely covered in blood and dust. By now, though, she had lost too much blood, and was totally drained of strength. As a result, before she had even managed to rise off of one knee, she went limp and fell unconscious upon the ground.

Hiei made his way over to her fallen form and kneeled down to check her pulse. Finding her to still be alive, he gathered her in his arms and began to walk towards the village gate.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Yusuke wiped the sweat off his brow with his forearm as he walked the western gate's archway and into the village. He didn't hear or sense much activity from in the area, so he assumed that the battle had been won.

_'Damn…now where the hell were we supposed to meet?'_ he wondered, scratching his head. '_Ah well, I'll just head over to the temple.'_

As he started on his chosen path, however, he heard an alarmed voice shouting from the north.

"We need a healer over at the northern gate right now!" came the panicked voice. "We've got one in bad shape over here!"

_'That's Hiei's gate!'_ recalled Yusuke with alarm, and bolted off towards the northern gate as fast as his legs would carry him.

When he arrived, he found that it wasn't Hiei who was injured, but Sango. It only took a moment for him to realize that the northern gate had been the one that was overloaded, but he only gave it passing thought as he took in Sango's condition. Yusuke had seen some serious injuries before, but hers was definitely near the top of the list. He didn't bother going over though, seeing as Kurama and the village healers were already starting to treat her wounds, and most of the others were already gathered around her. Yusuke had never been the most tactful in these situations, so he decided that he could only make things worse by joining them.

Instead, he started scanning the area for Hiei, who he found leaning against the wall of the gatehouse with a tired look upon his face.

"Hey there, three-eyes. What happened?" he inquired as casually as possible as he walked up to the short demon.

"I don't have the time or the patience to explain it in simple enough terms for your pathetic level of intelligence to understand," Hiei replied with a yawn.

'_Oh boy. I've seen this before,' _thought Yusuke as he noticed Hiei's droopy eyelids, slouched posture, and limp arms. _'He was exactly like this after beating Bui. He must have used the Dragon of the Darkness Flame.'_

"Now get out of my sight, human, or I'll make you _wish_ I was just cutting your limbs off…" threatened Hiei sleepily, though it proved more amusing than intimidating since he slumped to the ground in a deep slumber immediately afterward.

Yusuke chuckled and shook his head as he looked down upon the snoozing demon.

_'If only I had a marker…'_


	8. Chapter Seven: Down Time

**To the readers/reviewers:** I'm soooo sorry it took so long to update. I've been busier then I've ever been in my entire life, and when that combined with a tad of the old writer's block, it took a long freakin' time to get back to fic writing. But now I'm back, and hopefully it won't take so long for the coming chapters to be written.

**Etc.:** I realize I could have used "Black Dragon Wave" instead of "Dragon of the Darkness Flame" in the last chapter. However, as I have said, I am keeping most of the stuff in line with the English versions of the shows. Besides, "Black Dragon Wave" sounds like such a cliché name for an attack, while "Dragon of the Darkness Flame" just sounds more menacing to me. Just my opinion. Anyway, here's the next chapter.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Seven: Down Time**

Pain would be the first thing to greet Sango as she emerged from unconsciousness. Not the dull pain of sore muscles, either, but the sharp, biting pain of a fresh wound.

_'Of course, how could I forget,'_ she reminded herself as she rubbed her hand over her now neatly bandaged injuries. _'Damn! How could I be so careless?'_

As she berated herself, she also managed to take enough time to take in her surroundings. She was resting upon a small cot in a simple one-window room. Judging from the size of the room, she determined that she was most likely in the headman's mansion. It hurt to move, but she was able raise herself up into a sitting position. Still being a little groggy, it was only at this point that she realized that she was still in her armor. The parts around her wounds had been removed so they could be treated, but the rest of it remained intact.

_'I suppose I'd better change than,'_ she decided, noticing her clothes sitting in a small pile next to her boomerang and her sword across the room. _'It would have been nice if they were closer, though.'_

After methodically working her way over to her belongings, she began to remove the remaining armor on her upper body. As luck would have it, this is the precise moment that Kurama chose to check on her condition. Upon hearing the door slide open, Sango instinctively covered herself up with the nearest piece of clothing with one hand and flung the nearest hard object, one of her sandals, at the sound. Though many would rendered petrified by this embarrassing predicament, Kurama, being over three hundred years old, was mature enough to remain mobile, and quickly turned away from Sango while catching the flying footwear in his right hand

"I assume you'll need this," he stated calmly as he flipped the sandal over his shoulder towards Sango. "I apologize for the intrusion."

"Just consider yourself lucky," Sango warned, catching the sandal. "My boomerang was out of reach."

"Of course," acknowledged Kurama with a chuckle. "At any rate, I'm glad to see that you're all right. I'll wait outside until you have changed."

Sango exhaled in relief, thankful that it had been the ever tactful Kurama and not some of the less mature members of the group, namely Miroku. With that situation now resolved, she resumed changing her clothes. When she had finished, she limped out of the room to find Kurama waiting patiently.

"I see your injuries are still fairly painful," observed the fox demon as Sango leaned against a pylon to take the pressure off her right leg.

"Yeah, but I'm actually pretty amazed that I feel eve this good," she admitted. "I wasn't even able to stand after I got these."

"It's good to hear that you've made that kind of progress already," remarked Kurama with a smile. "You should be ready to travel within a day or two at that rate."

"Don't slow down on account of me. I'm healthy enough to travel right now!" the demon slayer declared.

To try and prove her point, she tried to take an angry step forward, displaying her fist. However, to her great embarrassment, her right leg buckled under her and Kurama had to catch her to prevent her from falling.

"Don't worry about slowing us down," assured Kurama, still smiling kindly. "We're all just glad that you made it through that ordeal. Your friends were all quite concerned. The only reason Miroku isn't sitting by that doorway right now is because we had him carried to his bed after he fell asleep."

_'That was awfully sweet of him,'_ though Sango with a smile. _'He may be a lecher, but he's still a really nice guy once you get past that. It is a pretty big flaw he has, though…"_

"Don't move around too much," advised Kurama before reaching into his pocket and pulling a small pouch out of his pocket. "Put this in some water and drink it, as well. It may not taste good, but it should help reduce some of the pain."

"Thank you, Kurama," she stated, taking the pouch. "By the way, where are the others?"

"Inuyasha, Yusuke and Kuwabara are wandering around the village somewhere. Miroku, Kagome and Shippou were all pretty worn out from last night, so they just woke up a little while ago," replied Kurama. "Hiei, however, was still out cold last I checked."

"Is he…all right…?" Sango asked with visible worry on her face and her voice shaking a little with apprehension.

"Don't worry, the fatigue is just an aftereffect of joining with the Dragon of the Darkness Flame," Kurama insisted. "But if he's still asleep then he'll have been out for twice as long as the last time. I suppose that would be expected if he had been fighting for a long time before he used it, though."

The worried expression on Sango's face disappeared with the revealing of this information. Looking out at the morning sun, she recalled the events of the previous night. Seeing that she was lost in thought, Kurama quietly turned to leave.

"Say, Kurama," she began, stopping the fox demon's exit. "Did you happen to see if Hiei had his sword with him?"

"All I saw was the sheath, the sword itself was missing," Kurama answered confused as to the origin of the question. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering…" she responded, and then began to limp back towards her room. "Thanks again for the medicine."

"It was no trouble at all, I assure you. Now get some rest," advised Kurama, and then departed.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Kurama and Sango were not the only people discussing Hiei at that moment. They were, however, the only ones who spoke of him kindly. One couldn't expect the other discussion to refer to the fire demon in a positive manner, of course, seeing as it consisted of a demon woman who was almost killed by his hand and her master.

"If reversing the attack back on him only makes him stronger, then I don't see any way to fight him," explained Kagura to her master with the hope to avert blame for the failure away from herself.

"I'm fully aware of the power of that attack, Kagura," dismissed Naraku impatiently. "It is one of legend, though I have never heard of anyone able to actually absorb the dragon. However, that is all irrelevant."

"How could that thing possibly be irrelevant?" scoffed Kagura, though she quickly retracted from her master a step, regretting her tone.

"I'll let your disrespect go this time, since there are few beings in existence that would be able to tell what I am thinking," Naraku warned her with a menacing glint in his eye. "Kohaku will be all I need to handle that one."

"The child?" questioned the wind sorceress quizzically.

"You saw the third eye on the demon's forehead, correct?" responded Naraku with a question of his own.

"Yes…" Kagura replied with a slow nod of affirmation.

"I cannot recall the name of such a third eye, but I do know one thing about it. It can be used for telepathic control," Naraku informed his vassal, a small smirk showing itself on his face.

"What does that have to do with Kohaku?" asked Kagura, unable to hide her skepticism.

"Surely you noticed that he only used that dragon after you wounded Sango," clarified the smirking demon. "If I have judged that demon correctly, Kohaku will serve as excellent bait to ensnare him."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Hiei gazed outward onto the village from the roof of the headman's mansion. The light from the sun had an odd effect when it was aligned with the pillar of energy that streamed upwards from the temple. Only someone who could sense spiritual energy would be able to see the sight, and truthfully, only someone who sees it would find much awe in it. Hiei himself was capable of a far more dazzling spectacle, anyway.

_'This is a waste of time,'_ he decided. _'Kurama had said that he would be able to track Naraku once he attacked, so why are we still here?'_

It was only a moment later when he saw the reason limping out the front entrance to the mansion, using her sheathed sword like a walking stick. With an irritated grunt, Hiei leapt silently down behind her.

"You'll only delay us longer if you overexert yourself," stated Hiei coldly, causing Sango to jump in surprise at his entrance.

"You don't always have to try and scare someone half to death with your entrance, you know," scolded Sango as she steadied herself using the sword. "Or is that your version of a game."

"Hn. Games are a frivolous waste of time," Hiei scoffed in response. "I don't play games."

"I figured as much…" muttered Sango. "Anyway, are you all right? Kurama said that you were out cold."

"I'm fine," answered Hiei coldly, and then started to walk away.

"Wait up!" called Sango and hobbled over to Hiei, which proved fairly difficult since he hadn't stopped walking.

"What is it that you want?" demanded Hiei without turning his head to look at Sango.

"You lost your sword last night," she illuminated, and then held out her sword towards Hiei. "I wanted to give you mine."

When she offered up the sword, Hiei stopped walking. After staring at the gift for a few seconds, he took it from her hand and examined the sheath. Satisfied, he slowly unsheathed the sword and scrutinized the blade. Noticing a large rock nearby, he walked over to it with the sword still unsheathed. Realizing what he was about to do, Sango remained where she was, not wanting to get in the way and lose a limb. The fire demon raised the katana above his head, and then suddenly brought his sword down upon the rock with nearly undetectable speed, causing the rock to fall into two pieces where it stood.

"All the weapons made in my village are made out of demon bone," elaborated Sango as Hiei again inspected the weapon. "I'm not quite sure about the specifics of this sword's construction, but it should get the job done."

"Hn," grunted Hiei in approval before sheathing the weapon and beginning to fasten the sheath to his belt. "It may suffice."

"Glad to hear it," stated the demon slayer with a satisfied smile. "It was the least I could do. You _did_ save my life, after all."

"Hn," grunted Hiei with far more irritation, and started to walk away again.

As he did so, Miroku moved from his position at the gate to the mansion where he had been watching most of the conversation. He arrived next to Sango at the same moment Hiei had leapt onto the roof of the mansion.

"Not exactly grateful, is he," commented the monk as Hiei disappeared from view.

"He's just not that great at showing it," rationalized Sango.

"And I suppose he's not great at showing compassion, cooperation or civility either," countered Miroku critically.

"A judgment on character coming from a monk who's both a lecher and a con artist doesn't mean much," teased Sango before beginning to head back to the mansion. "I should head back inside and get some rest. The sooner these wounds are healed the better."

"Agreed. Go get some rest," concurred Miroku with a nod.

As soon as Sango had reentered the mansion, Miroku glanced up at the spot where Hiei had vanished from view. He didn't know Hiei that well since he rarely even saw the demon, but he _did_ know Sango well enough to realize that what had just happened was…rare.

'_I understand why she would give him her sword,'_ he mused as he started to head back into the main section of the village. _'She hardly uses it, and Hiei lost his in the battle. That I understand, but I myself have saved her life before. Yet, I have never received such gratitude. No, that's not true. I simply haven't received tangible gratitude. Is it possible that I'm…jealous? Absurd! There's nothing to be jealous of! He's not even a noble like that other fellow…'_

Miroku halted his inward ranting upon hearing shouting coming from the south side of the village. He couldn't make out the words, but it sounded worth checking out. He sprinted as fast as he could to the northern gate, but when he arrived he found that Kuwabara had beaten him to it.

The gates were already swung wide open, and Kuwabara was standing outside them staring down a large demon. It was your standard massive, horned demon, with its ape like arms hanging down below its knees and bearing a mouthful of fangs. Kuwabara couldn't look any happier.

"So, you think you're man enough to take on the great Kazuma Kuwabara, huh?" taunted the boy as he cracked his knuckles in preparation. "You just made a big mistake, pal."

The demon didn't even bother to articulate a response beyond a furious roar before charging its assailant with surprising speed for such a large demon. The on looking villagers held their collective breath, fearing for Kuwabara's life. However, just as the demons massive head drew with in a few feet of the boy, Kuwabara snapped his head back and then brought it forward in a mighty head-butt. A loud crack could be heard and blood spouted from the demons ruptured skull as it was sent stumbling backwards from the force of the blow.

Not wasting any time, Kuwabara dashed forward, grabbed hold of the demons right arm and tossed it into the air in an impressive show of strength. As the demon's limp body began to fall back towards the earth, Kuwabara called forth his spirit sword and leapt upwards to meet it. In a flurry of cuts, the demons body was no more than kibble, and Kuwabara landed on the ground with a melodramatic flip through the air.

After deactivating his Spirit Sword, Kuwabara shoved his hands into his trench-coat pockets and walked back towards the village gates with a confident smirk on his face. He was about to start boasting about his feat when he suddenly found himself swarmed by several young women.

"Wow, your awfully strong," complimented one girl, fluttering her eyelashes up at the overwhelmed Spirit Detective.

"Strong guys like you are so hard to find nowadays," added another, trying to position herself in front of the other. "No one in this village is strong at all."

"We so rarely get any visitors," continued the third. "Why don't you let me give you a proper welcome?"

At this point, Kuwabara's face was bright red, and he was slowly trying to back away from his new admirers.

"I…uh…you…see," he stuttered coyly, unable to organize his thoughts.

"Come on, a big strong guy like you needs to have a little fun," offered the first girl with a wink. "Whad'ya say?"

"Su-no! I don-…I mean…I can't…I mean…I'm kind of…you know…" protested Kuwabara, continuing to blush and stutter, before finally clearing his throat and finding a small amount of composure. "I'm already in love."

"Too bad," sighed the third girl, shaking her head in overemphasized disappointment. "If you ever change your mind though…"

"_I'll_ still be here," chimed in the second with a seductive smile.

With that, the three young women finally relented, and walked away, doing their best to show off their hips as they left. By now, the crowd of villagers had dispersed, leaving only a relieved Kuwabara, leaning against the now closed gate for support. Miroku, however was still there. While the scene had certainly been an entertaining one, it was also puzzling to the monk, and he now sought to figure the scenario out.

"Why on earth would you pass up an opportunity like that?" he chided as he walked up to Kuwabara, who was still slightly pink in the face. "Those women were in the palm of your hand. They may have bad taste, but they certainly weren't ugly."

"I could never do that!" dismissed Kuwabara harshly. "It's not right!"

"Oh, right. You said you already have a woman," recalled Miroku. "Why should that stop you? I doubt you're married."

"Of course we're not married!" snorted Kuwabara indignantly. "But that doesn't mean that I should be with other women!"

"Why not?" inquired Miroku, with an extremely puzzled look on his face.

"Because real men don't do that!" reprimanded Kuwabara, before striking a heroic pose. "Real men are always true to the woman they love, because power of love conquers all!"

"You can go ahead and think that, but you can't blame a man for chasing beautiful women," replied Miroku, nodding his head in agreement with his own statement. "It's the natural thing to do."

"Don't be so stupid," lectured Kuwabara. "If ya' can't have loyalty, then ya' can't have love, and if ya' can't have love then there's no freakin' point to it."

"To each his own, I suppose," said Miroku with a shrug. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find those three women you so foolishly discarded."

While his outward reaction was one of indifference, there was a part of Miroku that had seriously been listening to Kuwabara.

'_Perhaps the big oaf has a point, albeit a fairly irrational one,'_ mused the monk as he headed back towards the village. _'But then again, women aren't that rational either. Maybe if I just show a little more restraint, just a little, I can put my mind at ease about Sango.'_

At this point, he passed the three girls who had been all over Kuwabara. He stealthily snuck in a quick glance at their posteriors as he walked on by, and a small smile appeared on his face.

'_Just a little, though.'_

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Kurama watched Kagome and Shippou playing with the village children as Inuyasha looked on from a nearby rooftop. It fairly comical, with Shippou changing into various funny shapes that made the children giggle with glee. However, Kurama wasn't paying attention to any person present. His eyes were on the four Sacred Jewel Shards Kagome was carrying with her. To him, they glowed like a beacon.

_'Look at them, Shuichi…'_ called a voice from deep within his mind. _'Aren't they spectacular?'_

_'That is enough, Youko,'_ he ordered the voice. _'Those days are long past. It is time to let them go.'_

_'You act like I'm the one you need to tell that,'_ responded the voice, full of foreboding, and then disappeared.


	9. Chapter Eight: Sorrow and Solitude

**To the readers/reviewers:** Sorry for the long wait on the update. I know I said I was back, but I got busy again. My most humble apologies. The issue of Kurama's presence in the feudal era was brought up, so I'll address that now. YYH is very inconsistent with his age first they say three hundred, then a thousand. At three hundred, he would not be born in the feudal era (five hundred years in the past), but he would be fully grown were he actually a thousand. To solve this, I'm going to assume that Kurama was in the Demon World for his whole life up until he flees to the Human World fifteen years prior to YYH. That way, I avoid the precarious problem of Kurama's debatable age by keeping him out of the feudal era no matter what age he is. Now that we've settled that, its time to get back to the fic!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Eight: Sorrow and Solitude**

By noon the following day, Sango had managed to convince the others that she was well enough to travel, though it had been insisted on that she ride Kirara until her right leg had completely healed. Though they tried to depart with as little fanfare as possible, the majority of the villagers managed to learn of it and saw them off. The headman had tried to bestow them with gifts of silk and fine art, but they had declined them, much to Miroku's disappointment.

Kurama had decided that Naraku was most likely to the northwest, though how he could possibly figure this out from an attack on all sides was beyond anyone's comprehension. The trek through the mountains was arduous, and Yusuke made a point to keep everyone informed of this the whole way. At long last, they found their way out of the mountains and into a forest that was host to what seemed like an unlimited supply of small, irritating insects. With no more mountains to complain about, Yusuke now kept his commentary limited to the bugs.

"Damned pests! I swear, I'm gonna' blow up this whole damned forest if these things keep comin'!" he declared, swiping at the group of flies that were buzzing around his head.

"For cryin' out loud! Will you shut up already?" mandated Inuyasha over his shoulder in a futile attempt to stop the assault on his eardrums.

"Come over here and say that to my face, you ugly mutt!" challenged Yusuke back at him.

"That is enough from both of you," interjected Kurama before the two broke into fisticuffs. "I sense we may have more pressing matters."

"Kurama's right," seconded Kuwabara as he slowed down and gazed about the surrounding area. "I've got a bad feeling…"

Inuyasha suddenly became serious and sniffed the air like hunting dog. After a moment, his expression turned grim.

"Human blood…and smoke…" he stated, and then leapt off in the direction of the smell.

The others quickly followed, and before long they had arrived at the source of the stench. A small village lay in ruin, with bloody corpses scattered on the road, and piles of charred timber lying where homes once stood.

"Damn! What in the hell did this?" roared Inuyasha furiously. "Even the women and children were slaughtered."

The rest of the group looked grimly upon the scene. Though most of them had seen similar horrors before, Yusuke and Kuwabara had never borne witness to such savagery inflicted upon innocent people, and each one bore an expression of rage upon their face that looked even greater than Inuyasha's own fury. The others acted accordingly; Hiei showing no outward emotion whatsoever, Kurama and Miroku looking on with a grim pensiveness, and Shippou and Kagome shared a look of deep sadness. Sango however, differed completely. She had walked over to a nearby corpse and examined the wound. Upon learning of its nature, she rose and addressed the group.

"I know who did this…" she announced somberly. "It was Kohaku."

"Are you sure?" queried Miroku.

"Yes, I'm sure of it," she confirmed as she began to stare at the dirt road below her. "These wounds were caused by him. There is no question."

"Who is this Kohaku guy? And where is he?" Yusuke demanded raising a clenched fist. "I'll beat the life out of him!"

Sango just continued to stare at the dirt, though it seemed as if she her boomerang was weighing down on her a little more. Before any of his companions could lambaste Yusuke for his offense, Miroku quickly informed the boy of the situation.

"Kohaku is Sango's younger brother. Naraku is using a Sacred Jewel shard to force Kohaku to be his minion," the monk explained.

"Oh…" Yusuke said as his eyes suddenly doubled in radius at this bit of information. "I…didn't…I mean…"

"It's all right," assured the demon slayer as she walked past him to resume the journey, though her tone was more depressed than comforting. "There's no way you could have known."

Seeing as there was nothing more to be said, the rest of the troupe Followed Sango in continuing their trek. After about a minute, Hiei walked up next to Miroku.

"Lecher, tell me exactly how Narkau is controlling Kohaku," he ordered without even looking at Miroku.

"He uses the Sacred Jewel shard imbedded in Kohaku's back to initiate some kind of mind control," elaborated Miroku, though he was a slightly wary of Hiei's sudden interest in the topic. "However, if the shard is removed, Kohaku will die. It is a most tragic predicament."

"Hn," Hiei grunted in response, and then quickened his pace so as to leave the monk's company.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

It had been nearly an hour since the village, and aside from some comments every now and then, the group was without its usual back and forth. Sango still walked ahead of the rest, unable to avert her eyes from the road in front of her. Yusuke had given thought to apologizing for his earlier comment, but had dismissed the idea, since he really had no clue exactly what type of apology would be adequate. It was clear, however, that the group would continue in its current state until either something happened, or he apologized. Something happened.

Sudden screams of terror could be heard nearby, and all of them were soon cut short. Sango snapped back into reality and burst out running towards the sound of the screams.

"Sango!" cried out Miroku in an attempt to get her to think rationally, but Hiei acted first.

In a flash, Hiei had darted off in the direction Sango had left, and the others could tell from his pace that he would overtake her in a mere moment.

"Damn it, Hiei! Don't do anything stupid!" yelled Yusuke as he began to pursue his comrade.

Everyone followed Yusuke's lead, but Kagome was lagging behind. Even on her bicycle, she couldn't keep pace with the others when they ran full out. Unfortunately, this had been what a certain wind sorceress had been counting on.

"Dance of Blades!"

Kagome sensed the attack even as Kagura launched it, but she knew that she wasn't quick enough to avoid it. Fortunately for her, Inuyasha had realized that she was falling behind and had returned to give her a lift. Kagura grimaced as she witnessed the red streak that was Inuyasha dart in and remove Kagome from her blades' path just before they hit.

_'I had hoped to avoid confronting Inuyasha, but no matter,'_ she mused as Inuyasha made sure that Kagome was unharmed. _'I only have to keep Kagome out of the way until Naraku's ploy has succeeded. With any luck, I need only fight for a few minutes.'_

"Let's see how you dance, Inuyasha!" she challenged downwards towards her foe, and loosed another attack from her fan.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

The scene that greeted Sango as she tore through the undergrowth and into the small village that was the source of the screams had been as she'd expected. Kohaku stood there, with his bloodied chained sickle in hand, and surrounded by the bodies of his latest victims.

"Kohaku…" she said painfully, now overcome with emotion.

Before anything else could be said, however, Hiei flew out of the brush behind her and landed in front of Kohaku like a lightning strike. Without pause, Hiei had batted aside the boy's weapon with his left hand and lifted Kohaku off the ground by his hair with his right hand.

"Wait! Don't kill him!" pleaded Sango desperately, her fear now overtaking her sadness.

"Hn, don't be foolish," Hiei scoffed, and then undid his headband with free hand.

The Jagan shone with an intense blue light and bore down into Kohaku's eyes, which soon glazed over as the boy enter a state of comatose. By now, the others had arrived, though nobody seemed to notice Inuyasha and Kagome's absence. Kurama immediately recognized what Hiei was attempting.

"He is trying to use the power of his Jagan to free Kohaku from Naraku's mind control…" he observed and began to stroke his chin in thought. "A bold move…and it just may work."

"Does the Jagan really have that kind of power?" exclaimed Miroku with shock.

"Well, Hiei did control a bunch of humans with it once," Yusuke recalled. "But I dunno if he can do it to someone already controlled by another demon…"

"I'm uncertain as to the extent of Hiei's prowess in this area," stated Kurama. "However, if he is to fail, Naraku may very well be able to enter his mind..."

"No…it's a trap!" exclaimed Sango, causing her emotions to spiral even further out of control. "Stop, Hiei!"

Her call of warning went unheard, for Hiei was already into Kohaku's mind, conducting a war of willpower with Naraku over control over the young boy's mind. Hiei was no amateur in the use of mind control, but Naraku was something of a master at it by this point in his life, even if he required a Sacred Jewel shard to help him do so. It was not long before Hiei realized he was being forced on the defensive. Desperately, he fought on, pushing the Jagan to its limit. Yet even the might of the Jagan Eye could not overcome the combined force of Naraku's will and the Sacred Jewel shard imbedded in Kohaku's back.

Finally, Hiei's defenses could no longer hold, and Narku moved the battle into the fire demon's mind. His left hand suddenly began tremble, and he let Kohaku fall to the ground. Struggle was written all over his face as he stumbled backward, bringing both of his hands up to grasp his head as if to simply keep it attached to his body. Finally, he let loose a horrible scream, but not of pain. It was of insanity.

His companions could only look on in horror as Hiei continued to scream, each one fearing for both the safety of the demon and of themselves. Slowly, Hiei began to change. His hair began to appear wild, as if it had been let loose from a cage, and his skin was steadily turning green.

"He's transforming!" blurted out Shippou, with nothing but the utmost fear in his voice.

"Yes," confirmed Kurama. "He is changing into his full demon form."

"Can't we do something?" demanded Miroku, almost having to yell himself to be heard over Hiei's screaming.

"Kagome, can y-" began Kurama, but then stopped short when he realized that Kagome was not present. "Kagome and Inuyasha ar-"

"Don't worry! I'll find them!" declared Kuwabara before Kurama could finish, and began to sprint off in the direction they came from. "You guys look after the shrimp!"

By now, small slits had begun to form on Hiei's skin, with the iris of an eye just barely visible past a few of them. All that his comrades could do now was hope.

"Fight it…please…" whispered Sango as she witnessed Hiei's torment, not noticing that Kohaku had disappeared.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Inuyasha and Kagome had their own troubles at the moment. Inuyasha was forced to carry Kagome and try and fight Kagura at the same time, seeing as the moment he set Kagome down she would be slain by Kagura's attacks. This was no easy task. He may be able to wield the Tetsusaiga one handed, but there was no way he could use a Wind Scar. On top of that, Kagome's bow and quiver lay where he had first scooped her off the ground, and Kagura was doing a careful job of herding Inuyasha away from that area. Out of options, Inuyasa plunged his right hand into his opposite shoulder, covering it with blood.

"Blades of Blood!" he roared, and flung the blood from his hand at the wind sorceress, which quickly formed a barrage of red energy blades.

The attack was easily dodged, however, and was returned in kind with Kagura's own energy blades. Inuyasha avoided the assault and returned fire, but again it was avoided.

"We need to get the others," advised Kagome after Inuyasha saved them both from another attack.

"I can handle this!" denied Inuyasha before resuming his attack, to face the same result as his last two attempts.

"I'm going to kill you here and now, Inuyasha," declared Kagura confidently, positive that she had the advantage.

"Not thinkin' so, feather lady!"

Kuwabara leapt into the fray and attempted to lay a right hook on Kagura, but the she increased her altitude and easily avoided the strike, counter attacking with her Dance of Blades. However, Kuwabara quickly activated his Spirit Sword, and used it to fend off the onslaught.

"Hey, dog face!" yelled Kuwabara over his shoulder as he stared down Kagura. "Get Kagome to the others! And don't forget her arrows!"

"Is something wrong?" asked Kagome as Inuyasha carried her to her bow and arrows.

"Hiei's in trouble and Kurama thinks you can do somethin'," replied the spirit detective. "I can't tell what's goin' on, but I know it's bad."

"Ok, lets go, Inuyasha," Kagome counseled the half-demon, and with a nod he quickly complied.

"You're not going anywhere!" yelled Kagura as she moved to intercept the duo from the air.

"No, _you're_ not goin' anywhere!" shot back Kuwabara. "Spirit Sword, get long!"

On his command, the Spirit Sword shot upwards, increasing the length of the blade by at least tenfold. With a mighty swing, he attempted to slice Kagura right out of the air with the now massive weapon, and she was forced into evasive action.

"This is what you get when you mess with the great Kazuma Kuwabara!" yelled out the boy as he swung his weapon at the now thoroughly frustrated wind sorceress.

As Kuwabara continued his duel, Inuyasha and Kagome were within sight of Hiei and the others. Most of the slits on Hiei's skin had opened completely by now, even as he fought to regain control of himself. He was losing badly.

"What in the hell is going on?" demanded Inuyasha as Kagome climbed off of his back.

"No time to explain," replied Kurama hurriedly. "Kagome, shoot an arrow towards Hiei."

"Are you insane?" yelled Yusuke as Kagome notched an arrow into her bow. "What if she hits him?"

"Don't worry, I can do this," Kagome assured him, though the sweat on her brow revealed some doubt.

Before Yusuke could continue in his protests, Kagome let the arrow fly. The arrow left a trail of sparkling energy as it flew through the air, and missed Hiei by only a foot. A bright flash of light followed as the projectile streaked past the fire demon, and almost instantly Hiei began to revert to his normal form. Panting and sweating, he turned sharply and looked towards his companions, suddenly realizing what had just taken place. Without so much as a word, he darted away, leaving everyone else standing there staring at the spot he had just occupied.

"Will someone please tell me what in the hell-" began Inuyasha, but was interrupted by a crashing sound from the forest.

Kagura could be seen racing towards them, followed by a pursuing Kuwabara, who was still swinging his over-sized Spirit Sword at her, though he was hitting nothing but trees. However, as Kagura caught sight of the others, she realized that she was too late to stop Kagome, and began a hasty retreat into the clouds above.

"Get back here!" roared Kuwabara, waving his Spirit Sword at the slowly disappearing dot in the sky. "Face me like a man!"

"She's not a man, blockhead," corrected Yusuke, shaking his head.

"Oh…yeah…" realized Kuwabara, finally deactivating his Spirit Sword and taking his eyes off of the sky. "Hey, where's the shrimp?"

"He dashed off as soon as Kagome broke the spell," Miroku explained. "No doubt this experience has left him a bit shaken."

"Not shaken, no," corrected Kurama. "I would say that he's simply taken a rather large blow to his pride. I do, however, doubt that we will be seeing him for some time. In the meantime, I suggest we resume our traveling, since it appears Kohaku has vanished as well."

As the group made to leave, Miroku noticed that Sango hadn't said a word. Looking over his shoulder, he saw her glance back at the village one last time before hefting her boomerang and following the rest of the group. There was a heaviness in her steps, and her expression was even more woeful than before. Realizing she was unapproachable right now, he made a note to comfort her when they made camp.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Hiei sat upon the bough of a large tree, and though his eyes looked outward, it was what was inwards that most concerned him.

_'I have never lost control of my demonic power before. Not even for a moment. To have it happen like that…how disgusting,'_ he reprimanded himself, clenching his teeth in anger. _'And what's worse, I had to be rescued, and by that weakling priestess, no less. Sickening. Absolutely sickening.'_

In a burst of anger, he slammed his fist into a nearby branch, shattering it into dust.

_'Clearly, my opinion of this was shared,'_ he thought as he recalled the looks on everyone's face after the incident. _'Her expression was particularly telling. Was that horror? Disgust? Damn it all! Why do I care?'_

He stood up from his position and looked at the horizon as the sun began to disappear behind it. It seemed like it was on fire.

_'I don't care. I don't care about any of them,'_ he continued, though whether this was legitimate introspection or stubborn reassurance was debatable. _'I don't care what they think, what they do, or how they feel. From this moment on, I shall be alone. Like the way it used to be; the way I want it to be.'_

His solitude now affirmed in his mind, Hiei leapt from his perch and began to make his way across through the treetops.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Again, Kagura stood before her master in the face of failure. She had been shown mercy the last time, but barring a small miracle, she was in for it this time.

"Lord Naraku…I-" she began but was cut off by sudden laughter.

"No need to explain your failure, Kagura," began Naraku with a smirk. "Though I failed to gain control of that demon, I doubt he'll be interfering for some time after what I did to him. No doubt he realizes that his feelings towards Sango are what caused him to fall into that trap, and he'll stay as far from her as possible.

"How can you be so sure?" Kagura asked cautiously.

"Because all demons like him fear weakness," explained her master with a sinister chuckle. "And since he likely sees her as a weakness, he will cower from her like the worm he is. However, I attained something even more valuable than this when I was inside his mind."

"And what did you learn, Lord Naraku?"

"Usually, when one is trying to control the mind of another, the information is too scrambled, and one cannot piece it together," began Naraku. "But this time I was fortunate enough to see a small portion of the fool's memories clearly, and from them I learned a most interesting fact. Within one of our enemies, there is sealed a potential ally. All that we need do is set him free…"


	10. Chapter Nine: When the Levee Breaks

**To the readers/reviewers:** Thank all of you for your continued support! You're reviews are appreciated, and they only make this fic better. I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the last chapter, since it involves my favorite plot piece thus far. I apologize at my continued tardiness in updating this fic, but very soon now I will have a lot more time on my hands, which means faster updates.

**Shameless Self-Promotion, Activate!** If you're a fan of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic I/II, then I suggest my KOTOR fan fiction to satiate your literary appetite. You can find a link to it in my profile. **Shameless Self-Promotion, Deactivate!**

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Nine: When the Levee Breaks**

One day after Hiei's mental sparring match against Naraku, the situation remained mostly unchanged. As Kurama had predicted, Hiei had not reappeared, and though Sango had assured the others that she was fine, it was obvious that she was lying. Even Yusuke and Kuwabara's moods had been brought down by these recent events, and that was saying something. As such, the camp was unusually quiet during dinner. Only Shippou seemed unfazed, but this was only because of his age.

"Hey, Kurama," said the fox demon cub, taking a break from his meal. "What kind of demon _is_ Hiei? I've never seen any demon like that before."

"Hiei is a fire demon," responded Kurama patiently. "But his full demon form is as much a mystery to me as it is to you. Hiei has never talked to me about his origins, and I have never inquired about them."

"Feh, I doubt that guy would even tell ya' if you asked him," scoffed Inuyasha, showing his distaste for the topic of conversation. "To tell you the truth, I really don't care."

"You're such an insensitive jerk," chided Kagome, sighing and shaking her head.

"Just bein' honest," replied Inuyasha, and then turned back to his meal.

The next few minutes were completely silent as everyone save Inuyasha himself cringed inwardly at his words. Kurama was the first to finish, and began to leave the camp.

"Where ya' goin'?" inquired Kuwabara through a mouthful of fish.

"Just checking the area for any useful plants," answered Kurama, and continued into the brush.

Even with the gravity of recent events, Kurama found his mood lighten as he walked through the forest. There had never been anything more soothing to the fox demon than nature, and now it was all about him. Eventually, he had made his way to a small stream, with the moonlight glistening off of its surface. For a moment, he just stood and gazed at the spectacle, soaking in the sight. However, this only lasted a moment, for he realized that he was not alone.

He did not need to scan the area to find the other party, though. It showed itself willingly, walking out of the trees on the other side of the stream, cloaked in white baboon skin.

"Ah, there you are…Kurama, is it?" greeted the masked figure, and while the words were cordial, the tone was sinister.

"And you are?" asked Kurama, now fully on his guard.

"I am the one you have been looking so hard for," responded the figure. "I am Naraku."

Though he was far to controlled to show shock at this, Kurama was indeed surprised by this bit of information. He sensed a Sacred Jewel shard, but only one. This was not consistent with what he had been told previously.

"Then why waste time on words?" proposed Kurama, removing the rose from his hair.

"Why, indeed?" agreed the fiend, and then promptly sent a tentacle shooting towards Kurama.

With an almost lazy movement from his wrist, Kurama transformed the rose into his signature Rose Whip and cut down the oncoming appendage. Naraku was persistant, however, and continued to send more tentacles at his target. Kurama didn't even need to move his legs, his whip seemingly created a shield around him as he lashed it about. Soon, chunks of Naraku's tentacles had covered the ground around him, and the attack ceased.

Seizing the opportunity, Kurama darted towards his opponent, whip prepared to strike. Naraku didn't even get the chance to dodge before the whip tore through him in a whirlwind of blows, shredding his body.

_'A demon puppet, of course,'_ realized Kurama as the remnants of his foe fell to the ground. _'I doubt the real thing will be so simple.'_

As he reapplied the rose into his hair, Kurama noticed a bright sparkle among the carnage. He stepped closer, and gazed down upon the object.

_'Well, look at this, Shuichi,'_ came Youko's voice from deep within his mind. _'A shard of the Shikon Jewel, the famed Jewel of Four Souls.'_

_'We are not keeping it, Youko. This jewel is the only way home,'_ he reprimanded back sternly.

_'Of course we won't,'_ Youko's assured him. _'But it would be foolish to leave it sitting here.'_

_'You're right, it would,'_ he agreed. _'I'll just hold onto it until we get back to the camp, but once we get there…'_

_'I understand, you don't need to repeat yourself, Shuichi,'_ Youko replied with slight impatience.

Slowly, Kurama reached down and picked up the glowing shard and placed it in his other palm. He gazed at its beauty with slight wonder momentarily, but quickly his eyes filled with panic. The shard was sinking into his skin. He tried to grab it, but it was too late, for he felt the shard inside of his palm, now unreachable. As he felt fear was over him, inside Youko was laughing.

_'What have you done, Youko?'_ he demanded as he slowly felt his body leave his control.

_'Poor little Shuichi. Surely you must understand by now how I feel about our partnership,'_ taunted Youko, his voice growing clearer and more powerful. _'Your mind is a prison, Shuichi, and the Sacred Jewel has provided a key to that prison. As such, you are no longer of any use to me. Goodbye, Shuichi.'_

Even as Youko finished speaking, white smoke enveloped the body that once belonged to Shuichi Minamino.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

"How far away is this jewel shard, exactly?" asked Inuyasha, following Kagome closely and holding onto his sword's hilt.

"It should be right up here," answered Kagome while she made her way through the thick undergrowth.

Several minutes ago, Kagome had sensed a Sacred Jewel shard in the direction Kurama had departed in. Since Kurama was already in the area and it was only one shard, the group had decided that just Inuyasha and Kagome need bother with it.

_'I've got a bad feeling about this,'_ thought the half-demon as he sniffed the air. _'There's a strange smell in the air.'_

They finally exited the forest and found a small stream, littered with the remains of some creature, a creature that did not bleed.

"This looks like one of Naraku's demon puppets," observed Kagome, pausing to examine the sight. "Something really did a number on it."

"And it's still here…" stated Inuyasha after a quick whiff of the air, and promptly drew the Tetsusaiga.

Despite their accurate observations up until this point, neither of them noticed a thick vine wrapping itself around Kagome's ankles. Only when it abruptly tighten did Kagome even feel it, and let out a sharp yelp as the vine began to drag her back to its source across the water, that source being the newly freed Youko Kurama, who had the other end of the plant wrapped around his left arm.

"Kagome! What the hell are you doing to her you bastard?" roared Inuyasha as Kagome's body began to be enveloped in the vine.

"You need not be concerned about the wench, she shall be fine so long as you act like a good dog and stay still," responded the self proclaimed king of thieves. "All I want is those Shikon Jewel shards she carries, not her life."

Inuyasha could only growl in frustration. He was fairly confident that he could easily defeat this new foe, but he wasn't sure that he could do it quickly enough to rescue Kagome.

_'Besides, Kurama should be here any second. Where is he?'_ thought the dog demon hopefully, but he sniffed the air to be sure. _'Wait…his scent is coming from right here, and why can't I smell this guy? Wait…'_

Inuyasha's jaw clenched and his eyes grew in size as he finally began to put the pieces together. He looked at the vine enveloping Kagome, then the fox tail on the demon, and then finally he began to notice the demonic aura that surrounded the demon.

"Kurama! You traitor!" he yelled, eyes practically burning with fury.

"You poor fool, I am not the Kurama you know. That weakling was not even worthy of the name. I am Youko Kurama, king of thieves," declared Youko, with a smirk on his face.

At last, Youko let Kagome drop to the ground, and the vine returned to him, carrying Kagome's four Sacred Jewel shards. Inuyasha quickly rushed to Kagome's side, but before he got there, Youko's vine lashed out and pierced Kagome's side.

"I did not say that you could move, mutt," Youko stated simply, though his words were laced with self satisfaction.

As the vine retracted itself from Kagome's flesh, Inuyasha was to stunned to do anything but stare in utter horror while Kagome fell to ground with a gasp. It appeared momentarily that Inuyasha would have a nervous breakdown, but Inuyasha did not react that way to traumatic situations. He simply became furious.

Bloodlust filled his eyes and he let out a war cry that would freeze the blood of the mightiest warriors before turning and charging his opponent with the Tetsusaiga. Yet even in his enraged state, he was not quick enough. Before he even reached Youko, the fox demon had absorbed all four of the Kagome's shards, and his power was far greater than Inuyasha could hope to match. As if to prove this, Youko simply dodged all of Inuyasha's strikes, despite the great power and fury behind them. All the while, Youko was laughing with glee, egging the half-demon's fury on to even greater heights.

This was the sight that greeted the others when they finally arrived. Kuwabara had sensed the peril that Inuyasha and Kagome were in, but this had not been anticipated. Inuyasha was momentarily distracted by their arrival, and Youko decided to take advantage of this, kicking the half-demon right in the ribs. With a great crash, Inuyasha found himself half imbedded in the ground from the power of Youko's strike, and was forced to use his sword in order to stand.

"Well, if it isn't Shuichi's little friends," Youko said mockingly, addressing Yusuke and Kuwabara specifically. "I regret to inform you that you'll no longer be seeing him. He has been…removed."

"Wait! Why are you doing this?" asked Yusuke with a confused expression on his face. "When you showed up in the Dark Tournament, you were on our side. What happened?"

"Fool boy, you misunderstand. I was never on _your_ side, I was on _my_ side," corrected the demon with a chuckle. "I had no choice but to cooperate. If your team had lost, Shuichi would die, and drag me with him. Now, I have no reason to work with you."

"Do you think you can ignore me?" yelled Inuyasha, and raised the Tetsusaiga in striking position. "Wind Scar!"

The blast of bright energy that Inuyasha let fly from his blade tore through trees, earth, and air, but it missed Youko, who leapt out of the way. Debris and smoke clouded the area where the Wind Scar had made impact, but when it cleared, Youko was gone.

"I can't even sense him…" muttered Kuwabara, eyes closed in concentration. "I 'spose he wouldn't be much of a thief if he couldn't escape good."

Yusuke nodded in agreement while the rest of the group, Inuyasha included went to check on Kagome. The girl was now sitting against a rock with a significant amount of blood forming a pool next to her, and looking fairly dizzy.

"I'll be OK," she assured her friends. "I just need something to stop the bleeding."

"As soon as you get bandaged up, you should get back to the camp. You'll need to rest if that wound's gonna' heal," suggested Inuyasha, before turning and pointing his massive blade towards Yusuke and Kuwabara. "That was _your_ friend that almost killed Kagome! If you've got a reason for me not to hack ya' to bits right now, you'd better stalk talking!"

"All right, but it's a long, boring story," began Yusuke with a sigh. "See, Youko Kurama was the big cheese of thieves up in the demon world…"

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Youko looked down at Shuichi's friends from a nearby cliff while they returned to their camp. By no means was it cowardice or a lack of confidence that caused him to retreat, he simply knew that the greatest strategists only fight a battle for which they have assured the outcome. For a guaranteed victory, planning would be necessary.

_'There was a strange aura surrounding that sword,'_ recalled Youko of the Tetsusaiga. _'I've seen something like it before...but what is it? Of course. It's a suppressant. That will take care of the larger threats, aside from that fire demon. Judging from what Shuichi knows of him, though, he will be easily defeated.'_

As the thief poured over any and all information he might use against the group, he marveled at how strong the Sacred Jewel shards had made him. Thinking about the shards inevitably reminded him of his blissful release, and that brought him to a realization, one that was rather offensive.

_'This was a set up. My release was prearranged by that arrogant Naraku. Youko Kurama is no one's pawn. Once I have removed these small pebbles off my path, I will have to inform that arrogant fool of this truth.'_

With no further purpose to his observation of his new foes, Youko lowered his spirit energy and retreated into the shadows.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Once the group had arrived back at the camp, Miroku and Sango had been able to stable Kagome's condition, though she had fallen asleep from exhaustion almost immediately. Everyone else was gathered around the fire, listening to Yusuke explain Youko's situation a second time.

"So…let me get this straight: that demon, Youko, is living inside Kurama, and is the reason he has demonic powers, but he's also a different person entirely and is actually way stronger than Kurama?" Inuyasha asked skeptically.

"Yup, that sums it up," confirmed Yusuke, relieved that he didn't have to tell the story again.

"But you said he was trapped, so how'd he get out?" questioned Inuyasha, as if trying to stump Yusuke.

"Kagome said she sensed a jewel shard in him before he took hers," interjected Miroku. "My guess is that Kurama got the shard implanted in him somehow and Youko used it to free himself, though it's just a guess."

"So if we take out the shards, Youko will go a way and Kurama will come back?" inquired Shippou hopefully.

"I don't think so…" answered the monk, shaking his head. "But I may have an idea."

"Well, spit it out!" mandated Kuwabara with impatience.

"I may be able to make a sutra that could seal Youko back inside Kurama if I poured enough power into it," Miroku stated, though his voice seemed unsure. "We will still have to remove the shards from his body somehow, but with the seal in place, Youko will be unable to resist."

"He's not stupid. We'll have to ruff him up if we want the chance to put it on him," added Yusuke severely.

"Yes," agreed Miroku. "There is the chance that we'll have to remove the shards from him before we apply the seal. Regardless, I should start making the seal. We'll likely need it by tomorrow."

The monk stood and went to get the necessary supplies. With the meeting seemingly concluded, everyone else went to their separate resting areas. Everyone, that is, save Sango. From the information that Yusuke had given them, Youko would only confront them if they initiated it themselves. He only did what benefited him and it was of no benefit to attack them when they posed no threat. With this in mind, she decided it was perfectly safe to go on a walk alone.

The night was beautiful, from a purely visual perspective of course. The moon was nearly full, and the sky was free of any obstructions to the dazzling constellations of stars that inhabited the sky. For a minute or two, she just walked through the forest, her kind really focused on nothing in particular. At last, she reached a clearing, with grass taller than a small child and wild flowers scattered here and there like it had been deliberately decorated that way. Here, she stopped, and leaned against the trunk of an ancient tree at the clearing's edge.

"You're probably not listening, Hiei, but if you are, we could really use your help," said Sango as if the demon were standing right next to her. "You may have your problems, but really they're nothing compared to Kurama's. You have no reason to exile yourself like this."

The demon slayer paused to let out a sigh, and the wind seemed to echo her, causing the grass in the clearing to wave about like a water current.

"I bet you blame yourself for what happened back at that village, don't you? Like you could have somehow done better," she continued, shifting her gaze up to the heavens. "The only reason Naraku came so close to controlling you was because you were trying to save Kohaku, and the only reason you did that was because he's my brother. If anyone's to blame, it's me."

Having now expelled the thoughts that had been dwelling on her mind for a day now, Sango reentered the forest and began to return to the camp. She had known that there was little to no chance that Hiei had been watching any member of the group at all during the last twenty-four hours, and that the odds of him hearing her words just now were even slimmer. Then again, the odds of a girl from the future being flung five-hundred years in the past through an abandoned well were just as small.


	11. Chapter Ten: Fox Hunt

**To the readers/reviewers:** Once again, I thank you for your continued support of this fic. Your patronage is most appreciated. Pairings were brought up, so here's my little spiel on the subject: Giving out pairings is all well and good, but suspense is a key part to any piece of literature (yes, even fanfiction). So, in order to preserve this key element of storytelling, I'm going to leave you totally on your own in that regard. If you hate me because of this, then I'm sorry. With that in order, here's the next chapter (it's of the longer variety, so hopefully that should make up for the two weeks it took for me to update.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Ten: Fox Hunt**

When dawn at last arrived, the travelers awoke one by one and went about their morning routines in business like manner, and not until everyone was ready did they even start a conversation. Even Yusuke had been fairly grim after the encounter with Youko, and that had been a sign to the others that this was a dire situation. Having experienced Kurama's keen mind firsthand, no one needed to be told that it was time to solidify their plans.

"Miroku, did ya' finish that seal?" asked Inuyasha to start off the discussion.

"Yes, the seal is complete," the monk verified with a nod. "All that I need to do is apply it to him and we will have won."

"Oh, is that all?" responded Yusuke sarcastically. "He's going to be expecting something like this. He always knows what's coming before it gets there."

"I realize this, but there is no other way to save your friend," Miroku replied.

"Then let's stop wasting time and go!" said Kagome, grabbing her bow and quiver.

"_You're_ not going anywhere with that wound," mandated Inuyasha rising and walking over to Kagome imperiously. "You're staying at the camp."

"What are you talking about? I'm fine!" dismissed Kagome with the stubborn tone that Inuyasha was now so familiar with.

As she stood up to prove this, however, she was unable to hold back a grunt of pain, confirming Inuyasha's suspicion that she was lying. His point proven, the half-demon crossed his arms with a triumphant smirk, and Kagome finally ceded, sitting down with a huff.

"Don't worry Kagome, I'll stay here with you," volunteered Shippou eagerly in an attempt to cheer his friend up.

"Are you sure you two'll be OK here?" asked Kuwabara skeptically. "Naraku might try and cheap-shot you guys while we're fightin' Youko."

"Good point, lug-head. You're staying with 'em," stated Yusuke, quickly starting to explain before Kuwabara could protest. "Youko knows exactly how you fight by now anyway, so he's probably already figured out exactly how he's going to beat you."

"He knows how you fight, too, Urameshi! You've got just as bad a chance as I have!" yelled Kuwabara, still unconvinced and thoroughly insulted by his peer's suggestion.

"You know me, Kuwabara. I'm unpredictable," explained Yusuke with a smirk. "Besides, if Naraku attacks, he'll be sending that damned witch. Weren't you sayin' earlier that you wanted another shot at her?"

"Fine, I'll watch Kagome and the runt, but you owe me, Urameshi," Kuwabara consented with a grimace. "Next time, you're doin' the babysittin'."

As expected, this prompted a most violent verbal lashing of the young man by Kagome. Injured or not, she did not need a "babysitter". While Kuwabara desperately tried to apologize for his offense, Yusuke stood up and began to leave. In a moment, Kuwabara, Shippou and Kagome were alone, arguing in the camp.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

For nearly half an hour, Yusuke had been leading his fellows on a silent walk through the forest. Tension was high enough with a conversation to distract the party, but not even a birdcall could be heard. At long last, Inuyasha had taken all he could.

"Do you even know where in the hell we're going, kid?" he demanded. "Hell, I bet you just picked a random direction and started walking. We're probably headed straight into a trap."

"Of course we're heading into a trap," replied Yusuke tonelessly. "If we weren't, Youko'd never show up."

"Well this is certainly a surprise," came Youko's voice from the treetops. "The Spirit Detective actually made a correct analysis."

Sango griped her boomerang, Inuyasha unsheathed the Tetsusaiga, Kirara transformed in a flash of fire and Miroku placed a hand on his newly made sutra. Yusuke, however, turned with all the panic of a wolf being threatened by a deer as the fox demon leapt down from the trees.

"Youko, I think it's about time you gave me my friend back," stated Yusuke simply.

"Oh, are you going to make me, Detective? Spare me the empty threats," dismissed Youko mockingly. "And I suppose this little mongrel wants revenge for what I did to his whore."

"Bastard! I'll see you dead!" bellowed Inuyasha, and charged at Youko with in a blind rage.

Inuyasha swung his blade at the demon's torso, but, though powerful, the attack had been easy for Youko to read. Even as the Tetsusaiga ripped through the air, Youko removed a rose from his hair, and it transformed into a whip. Though it came from the same flower that Kurama's usual Rose Whip came from, this version was quite different. The whip itself was nearly twice the length of its lesser form, and the thorns were nearly five times their old size and were at least double in number. On the whole, the once elegant looking weapon had become incredibly sinister.

Inuyasha didn't care what weapon Yuko was using, all he could see was red as he ran towards the demon for his next attack. Despite this tenacity, it would be Youko who struck first, lashing his whip out towards the half-demon in a deadly downward arc. Inuyasha tried to dodge to the side to avoid the attack, but one of the thorns cut him across his right wrist, which caused his grip on the Tetsusaiga to falter ever so slightly. This had been Youko's true intent with the attack in the first place, and his next strike proved this. A few flicks of the wrist sent the new Rose Whip colliding into the hilt of the Tetsusaiga at the perfect angle, flinging the blade from Inuyasha's hand and into the forest. Before the dog demon could even turn to attempt and retrieve it, another lash from the whip had cut a gash across his shoulder, and he was knocked off balance, falling to the ground with a thud.

"Well now I'd love to stay and watch the show," Youko said to his other four pursuers, flashing a wicked grin. "But I wouldn't want to interfere with your fun."

Yusuke raised his hand in Spirit Gun position at the demon, but before he could gather the energy needed to fire, Youko had leapt off into the forest.

"That was strange…" commented Yusuke and then shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk in the direction Kurama had left. "Oh well, he'll show up again soon enough."

Suddenly, Yusuke realized no one was following him. Turning to see what the hold up was, he saw Sango, Miroku and Kirara all staring with anxiety at Inuyasha's fallen form.

"How…how did he know?" blurted out Miroku to nobody in particular, further puzzling the Spirit Detective.

Before he could inquire about the problem, Yusuke suddenly felt a strange surge of spirit energy emanating from Inuyasha. It was not like a sudden burst of strength, though. More like a change in the very nature of Inuyasha's energy, and an ominous one at that. As if to accentuate the strange aura, the wind picked up slightly, creating a background noise of rustling leaves. Suddenly, Yusuke saw Inuyasha's hands twitch, and his claws extend to a more menacing length.

"Care to explain what's goin' on?" asked Yusuke, showing a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"When the Tetsusaiga is far away from Inuyasha, and when his instincts feel that he is in great peril, he turns into a full demon," summarized Miroku as briefly as possible. "However, because he is only a half demon, he cannot control himself in his full demon form. His demon instincts take over, and he focuses on killing anything he sees."

As Miroku spoke, Inuyasha slowly began to bring himself up to one knee, revealing a purple streak down each cheek and eyes that looked as if they had been soaked in blood. It was at this moment that Yusuke realized the gravity of the situation.

"Well that's just wonderful," Yusuke cracked in mock cheeriness. "How do we change him back?"

"If we knock him out and return the sword to him, he should revert back to his normal form," answered the monk. "We shall have to be careful, though. He is even stronger than usual in this form, and he won't hesitate to kill us."

"Seems simple enough. I'll handle this," pronounced Yusuke while the newly transformed Inuyasha rose lazily to his feet and flexed his claws. "If we let Youko get away now, he'll only find more Jewel Shards and become even tougher, so you guys should keep chasing him."

"Right," agreed Sango, and hopped onto Kirara's back, with Miroku following suit. "Don't get yourself killed."

"I won't. That would be a real pain in the ass," Yusuke assured his comrades, flashing a trademark smirk.

Moving with all due haste, the trio quickly took to the sky and disappeared from view. By this point, Inuyasha had gained enough awareness of his situation to take a look at his surroundings. When he saw Yusuke, he barred his now almost knifelike fangs at the boy in a twisted grin.

"Boy…" he began in a deep voice laden with bloodlust. "It's time we finished what we started."

"So, you can talk after all," retorted Yusuke confidently. "Too bad. I was hoping that your little transformation would shut that stupid trap of yours."

"Stupid human, you just don't realize it…you're already dead," responded Inuyasha, and then leapt at the boy, claws ready to strike and the twisted grin still on his face.

"Big mistake! Shotgun!" yelled Yusuke, his clenched fist pointed right at the oncoming demon.

The torrent of blue energy bolts leapt out from Yusuke's hand as they had done so many times before, and like so many times before, they peppered their target full force. Yet, Inuyasha was not harmed by the attack. In fact, he wasn't even slowed by the attack, and if there was any pain at all, he was simply ignoring it. The utter astonishment that Yusuke felt was written all over his face nearly cost him his life, for he only recovered from it at the last possible instant. He leapt backwards, and managed to avoid a fatal blow, but Inuyasha's claws did not miss entirely. Tearing through clothe and flesh, the diagonal slash from the demon's right hand left Yusuke with a large gash across his chest, and even he had to admit it: he had an extremely difficult fight ahead of him.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

In the sky above, Miroku and Sango were canning the ground for any sign of Youko, which was no easy task. The forest stretched for miles, and Youko was a master thief.

"Kirara, do you smell him?" Sango asked the beast, receiving a negative growl in reply. "He may have gotten away…"

"No, in fact, he's right over there," corrected Miroku, pointing towards a grassy knoll where Youko could be seen standing. "It would seem that he wants to be found…perhaps he doesn't think us a threat."

"Then we'll just go prove him wrong," replied Sango with steel in her words. "Kirara, take us down."

With a roar, the demonic cat obeyed, and they began a rapid descent towards the knoll. Miroku half expected an attack during their landing, and was prepared to raise a shield. However, Youko simply watched, and this made the monk even more uneasy.

"There you are," greeted Youko almost cordially. "Any later and I may have thought that that worthless mutt had killed one of you. That would have been a shame, I so would like to kill you myself."

"Tell me, Youko, how did you know about Inuyasha's full demon form?" demanded Miroku, ignoring the fox demon's threats.

"Why, I simply recognized the aura coming from that sword as a suppressant, and I know that mutt is a mere half demon," answered Youko dismissively. "Anyone who has seen as many demonic treasures as I have would recognize it."

"Cunning," admitted the monk before getting into a combat stance. "But not cunning enough to save you. Prepare yourself."

Sango and Kirara followed Miroku's lead, each setting themselves in position to strike. A demon hunter, a monk, and a demon cat, all with considerable experience in fighting demons now stood against Youko, and he began to laugh. Not a simple chuckle, either, but genuine laughter.

"You humans never cease to amaze me with your complete stupidity," taunted Youko once he had stopped laughing. "You must realize that you are completely outclassed, yet you still wish to fight?"

"Don't worry, you won't have to fight them," came a familiar voice, and Hiei leapt out from the trees, landing in between Youko and his hunters. "I will be the one to deal with you."

"Glad to see you showed up," welcomed Sango, feeling some of the tension ease with the fire demon's arrival.

"Hn," snorted Hiei in his usual manner before taking a step towards Youko. "I don't know how it is that you got free, fox, but if you're here, than the Kurama I know is not. I prefer the other one."

"Oh, Shuichi is here," amended Youko, tapping his forehead with a claw. "He's just finding out how I've lived for the last decade and a half."

Hiei had never been one to pontificate for very long during a battle, and now was no exception. Instead of responding to Youko's words with more words, he simply threw off his cloak and leapt towards the fox demon with blinding speed. Normally, Youko may have been too slow to avoid such a sudden, lighting quick attack, but with the power of his five jewel shards, he was easily able to avoid it by leaping into the air. Hiei's fist left a small crater where it had made contact with the ground, but Hiei did not let this initial failure make him falter.

"Fists of the Mortal Flame!" he yelled, and suddenly emerald flames encased both of his fists before he leapt after his opponent.

At this point, the fight became truly serious. Hiei and Youko were mere blurs to the others as they looked upon the scene, so great was their speed. To Miroku, the spectacle was fairly intimidating, seeing as he would have to somehow hit Youko with his sutra, but to Sango it was simply frustrating.

"Damn! What's that idiot thinking?" she said bitterly, giving voice to her thoughts. "How are we supposed to help him if he keeps the fight at such a fast pace?"

"I don't think he intends on letting us," answered Miroku as he finally gave up on trying to keep track of the combatants. "We'll just have to let him have his chance. If he fails, then we'll step in."

Kirara growled and Sango almost felt like doing the same. This was not a great time to be relegated to the sidelines.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Of course, if Sango was on the sidelines, then Kuwabara was in the locker room. After being chewed out by Kagome for what had seemed like a lifetime, he had decided that taking a nap would be the most productive use of his time. He was right in the middle of a productive dream concerning Yukina and a bathing suit contest when an explosion in distance woke him from his slumber.

"What was that?" cried Shippou in a panic, clinging onto Kagome's skirt for safety.

"I don't know, but I'm sensing a strange demonic aura in that direction…" responded Kagome thoughtfully before turning to Kuwabara. "What do you sense from over there, Kuwabara?"

"Hold on, hold on," Kuwabara replied groggily, then furrowed his brow and reached out with his senses. "Let's see…Urameshi's over where that 'splosion was…and someone else…it feels like dog-face…but it feels weird…like he's changed or somethin'."

"What do you mean by changed?" asked Kagome, and gritted her teeth as she waited for Kuwabara to respond.

"Like…like he's really pissed off," answered Kuwabara after a moment's deliberation.

As soon as the boy answered, Kagome grabbed her bow and quiver and stood up. Thinking that she was going to head towards the battle on her own, Kuwabara quickly rose to stop her, holding his arms out to block her path.

"Whoa! You're not 'spost to leave the camp," Kuwabara reminded her.

"You don't understand, I have to get out there and help Inuyasha! He might have transformed into a full demon!" she yelled, determined to get Kuwabara to stand down.

"Is that bad?" asked Kuwabara blinking cluelessly.

"Of course it's bad!" answered Kagome harshly. "He could be trying to kill your friend!"

"Holy crap! We've gotta' go help!" agreed Kuwabara at last, and did an about face.

Before he could begin to dash off towards the battle, however, he felt Kagome jump onto his back. For a moment he simply stood there, completely confused and embarrassed by what had just happened.

"Uh…Kagome…" he finally managed. "What…what are you doin'?"

"If you carry me, we'll get there faster," answered Kagome simply, but after a moment decided it needed to be elaborated on. "We don't exactly have another option if we want to get there in time to save them, so let's just get going."

As Kuwabara started to object, Shippou leapt on his head and clung to it like a leach. This prompted another few moments of confusion for Kuwabara.

"What are you waiting for?" yelled the fox demon cub. "Let's go!"

"Fine," mumbled Kuwabara, practically blushing with embarrassment as he took hold of Kagome's legs in his arms. "But this is…just stupid."

"Quit complaining and start running!" ordered Kagome impatiently.

Mumbling all sorts of complaints, Kuwabara finally resigned himself to his fate, and commenced in giving the strangest piggyback ride of his life.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Stupid dog, heel!" yelled Yusuke as his fist connected with Inuyasha's gut, sending the dog demon flying backwards into a cluster of trees.

Inuyasha appeared to be taking his time getting up from the attack, and it gave Yusuke a chance to assess his own injuries. He was bleeding from his lip and several gashes on his arms and chest, and what remained of his shirt was soaked in blood. The knees of pants had been ripped out as well, revealing severe scrapping in that area. He was not in good shape, but Inuyasha wasn't exactly doing so great, either. In fact, Inuyasha had taken far more hits than Yusuke had, and he was covered in scrapes, cuts and bruises. The difference was that Inuyasha seemingly felt no pain, while Yusuke felt every last bit of it.

_'I can't beat him unless I use my full strength, but if I do, I won't have enough left for Youko,'_ thought Yusuke as he watched Inuyasha rise and flex his claws. _'I don't think I've got a say about it, though. I just hope I don't end up killing this bastard.'_

His decision made, Yusuke squared his stance and began to raise his spirit energy. Unfortunately, as Yusuke did so, Inuyasha's instincts kicked in, and the dog demon got the sense that he should prevent Yusuke from doing whatever it was he was doing. In an instant, Inuyasha was flying through the air towards Yusuke, who was forced to cut his powering up short in order to escape certain death.

_'Damn, he must've figured out what I was doing,'_ cursed the boy inwardly as he avoided the attack by rolling to his left. _'I might be in trouble, here.'_

Inuyasha charged Yusuke once more, bring down his right hand with claws extended towards the boy's throat. This time, though, Yusuke caught his wrist before the attack could hit home. Inuyasha then tried with his left hand, and Yusuke repeated the maneuver. With both of the demon's wrists firmly in his grasp, Yusuke began to spin himself and his opponent around in a circle, gaining speed as he went. Finally, he released Inuyasha's wrists, sending the half-demon flying through around a hundred yards worth of trees. Yet even after this, Inuyasha stood up almost instantly, showing no sign of pain.

With a roar, Inuyasha leapt once more at Yusuke. Gritting his teeth, Yusuke raised his hands in preparation for the Spirit Gun, and gathered his strength. Inuyasha was mere feet away, and Yusuke was about to fire when suddenly…

"Sit, boy!" rang out Kagome's voice from behind Yusuke.

Inuyasha was thrown to the ground in a flash of purple light, and he lay there groaning. Lowering his Spirit Gun, Yusuke turned to face the newcomers. Needless to say, the sight of Kagome being let down from Kuwabara's back was enough to make him crack an amused smile, and when Kuwabara's exhausted panting and Shippou's hopping down from the boy's forehead were factored in, he couldn't help but chuckle.

"I hope you two didn't get overcharged. Those cab drivers can be tricky," he said with a smirk.

"Shut…up…Urameshi," responded Kuwabara in between breathes.

"Where's the Tetsusaiga?" asked Kagome hastily as Inuyasha let out a moan of pain from his position on the ground.

"In those bushes over there, I think," answered Yusuke, pointing over to a small cluster of shrubbery.

Kagome quickly walked over to the bushes in question, and, after a moment or two, returned with the Tetsusaiga in its normal form, appearing as a battered katana. Carefully, she made her way to Inuyasha and placed the sword in its sheathe. As she drew back her hands, however, Inuyasha's arm shot out and grabbed her by the wrist. Yusuke formed the Spirit gun with his hands and Kuwabara made to move in to assist, but they stopped when Inuyasha raised his face up from the ground. No longer were his eyes crimson, his fangs were back to their normal length, and the purple streaks on his cheeks were gone. He had returned to normal.

"Kagome? What are you doing here?" he queried weakly. "I was fightin' Youko, then he knocked the Te…no…did I…?"

"Yes, you transformed," affirmed Kagome, her expression saddening as Inuyasha's grew more fearful. "It's OK though. You didn't kill anyone."

As Kagome helped Inuyasha to his feet, Yusuke took the opportunity to sit down. It was fairly painful to stand, and while sitting down didn't help much, any relief was appreciated.

"Where are the others?" asked Kuwabara, looking around expectantly.

"Fighting Youko by now, I hope," replied Yusuke. "They shouldn't be too far away. If you want to go after them, though, you'll have to help me up. I'm telling my legs to move and they're not really listening."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

The duel between Hiei and Youko had been continuing at the same pace for some time now, but neither side had appeared to gain an advantage. Hiei still hadn't drawn his sword, presumably because he feared killing Youko would kill the Kurama he knew as well. Though Youko held no such worries, he hadn't brought forth some kind of weapon either, though he had still managed to dictate the pace of the fight. For one that knew the martial arts, this would be a most troubling revelation. For it only meant one thing: Youko was toying with Hiei.

At last, the two broke combat briefly, and stopped around twenty meters away from each other. Here, the difference in the combatants could be clearly seen. Youko stood confidently, showing not a sign of fatigue or worry on his face. To the casual observer, Hiei would look the same, but if one looked closely, one would notice that Hiei was taking far deeper breathes than Youko was, and there was a significant amount of sweat on his brow.

"What's the matter little demon? Can't keep up?" taunted Youko with a confident smile. "Perhaps I should end this game."

Not even bothering to respond verbally, Hiei simply leapt towards the fox demon once more. However, Youko was prepared. Taking a small seed out of his sleeve, he flicked it towards Hiei. Right before the seed reached the demon, a large cluster of roots burst out of it, enveloping the demon. In response, Hiei simply drew his sword and sliced the roots to bits as he flew through them. However, when he reached the other side of the roots, Youko was not before him.

Realizing too late that the roots were simply a distraction, he tried to twist around in midair, but all he accomplished was gaining the privilege of seeing Youko's foot slam into his face, causing him to drop his sword. Before Hiei could even hit the ground, Youko was below him, and greeted the fire demon with a swift kick to the abdomen. For the next few moments, it continued like this. Youko refused to let the fire demon even hit the ground, seemingly juggling him in the air with crushing blow after crushing blow. At long last, Youko finished his combination by slamming his knee into Hiei's chin, propelling his victim into the ground with a crash.

"Don't think I'm done with you," warned Youko as he pulled another seed out of his sleeve and holding it forth.

From the seed sprouted vine much like the one that Youko had used on Kagome earlier, only now it was far thicker. It wrapped one end around its master's arm, and the other end shot out towards Hiei, who was struggling to pick himself up. He had no chance to get out of the way as the vine wrapped itself around him and held him high in the air. Only his head could be seen as the vine began to squeeze the very life out of him.

At long last, Sango could no longer stand waiting, and she sprinted out towards the battlefield, shifting her boomerang into a throwing position.

"Let him go!" she demanded as she let the boomerang fly from her hands and whirl through the air.

The boomerang tore through the vines that surrounded Hiei with expert precision, allowing Hiei to slip free of their grasp. However, Hiei lacked the strength to stabilize his fall, and he hit the ground hard. Catching the boomerang on its return route, Sango positioned herself in front of Hiei and turned to face Youko.

"Fool, stay out of this," ordered Hiei through labored breathes as he struggled to rise to one knee. "Do not interfere with my fight."

"Not a chance," rebuffed Sango sternly. "You've risked yourself twice for my sake. It's time I returned the favor."

"Well, now this is certainly pathetic," commented Youko tauntingly as Miroku and Kirara took positions next to Sango. "You three insignificant worms think that you can beat me? How sad."

"I've heard enough out of you!" yelled Sango, and threw her boomerang at the fox demon, cueing Miroku and Kirara to charge their opponent.

Youko simply smirked and caught the massive weapon with one hand. Instead of simply discarding the weapon, though, he hurled it towards the charging Miroku who was forced to cut off his attack and leap out of the way. This left only Kirara still attacking him, roaring and leaping forth to sink her fangs into him. Youko simply lashed out with the back of his right hand and smacked Kirara away from him like she was some kind of insect. The beast was sent careening into a nearby tree, and was knocked out upon impact, causing her to revert back to her smaller form.

Youko would have begun taunting his opponents again, but Sango was already dashing right for him, apparently willing to fight without her boomerang. She tried to attack the demon with punches and kicks, but Youko easily avoided her strikes. She was soon joined by Miroku, who had recovered from Youko's previous attack and was adding his staff to Sango's fists and feet. Try as they might, however, they could not lay so much as a finger on Youko, even though the demon wasn't moving nearly as fast as he had been when he fought Hiei.

After a few moments of this, Youko found himself growing weary of it, and ended the duo's attack with a punishing kick to Miroku's abdomen and another to Sango's side. Miroku, while certainly no weakling when it came to melee combat, had never received such a powerful blow, and it left him sprawled on the ground as he tried to find the strength to rise. Sango, however managed to recover in a moment or two, albeit she looked fairly unsteady on her feet.

"One blow and you're already tired?" mocked Youko with a sneer. "You may even be weaker than I anticipated."

"We'll see who's weak!" challenged Sango as she removed a bamboo flask from her belt. "Let's see how you handle this!"

The flask, as Youko would soon learn, contained her poison powder pellets. However, rather than simply taking out a handful and throwing them at Youko, Sango opted to throw the entire flask at the demon, and it exploded in a burst of black smoke. Despite the spontaneity of the attack, Youko was still too fast for it, and he leapt out of the smoke before he had even taken a breath of it. Needless to say, he was moving to fast for Sango to even react as he landed an uppercut right on her chin. Upon landing on the ground, she didn't move.

"Sango!" called out Miroku, who was now trying to use his staff in order to stand up.

"Oh don't you worry, she's not dead," assured the fox demon, and then let out a sharp laugh. "She will be shortly, though."

"The only one who will be dying on this hill is you, fox."

Hiei had managed to stand himself up, and now had his bandaged right hand curled into a fist that was pointed right at Youko. In one motion, he took the bandages in his left hand and tore them off, revealing the menacing black dragon tattoo.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" chided Youko gloatingly. "If you kill me, then Shuichi dies too. I don't think that death would be a pleasant experience for him."

This caused Hiei to pause. Whether or not Hiei would still have used the Dragon of the Darkness Flame on Youko remains uncertain, but the important piece was that he paused a moment to think about his decision. For while Youko had been speaking, he'd managed to pull out a rose from his hair, and this slight pause was all the time he needed to transform it into a rose whip and use it to attack the fired demon. Hiei was caught completely off guard, and while he still managed to dive to the side and avoid death, the whip cut a deep wound in his back that left him lying helplessly upon the ground.

The brief conversation between Youko and Hiei had served one other purpose, however. It had left Youko distracted. In his arrogance, Youko was too busy reveling in his victory to notice Kazuma Kuwabara, who had sprinted towards Youko as quickly as he could while the fox demon was busy using the Rose Whip on Hiei. Only when the boy had placed him in a powerful headlock did Youko realize his grave error.

"Miroku!" called out Kuwabara, using every ounce of his strength to twist Youko towards the monk's position. "Use the thingy!"

Despite the use of the word "thingy" instead of "sutra", Miroku understood the message. Reaching into his cloak, he pulled out the special sutra he had made and flung it at the hapless fox demon. Thanks to Kuwabara's headlock, the sutra hit home in a flash of light and causing Youko's body to suddenly spasm, which in turn flung Kuwabara off of him. It was too late, however, and white smoke slowly covered Youko's body. After several moments of tense waiting, the smoke cleared, and the body of Shuichi Minamino stood in place of Youko's. Before Kuwabara or Miroku could go greet their returning comrade, however, Kurama let out a sharp cry of effort and expelled the five Sacred Jewel shards from his body in a burst of energy. With that, he promptly collapsed upon the grass.

This was the scene that greeted Kagome, Inuyasha, Shippou, and Yusuke as they walked out of the woods, though for Yusuke and Inuyasha, it was more of a limp.

"Wow, everyone got beat up pretty good…" noted Yusuke in bewilderment. "Now here's the money question: how in the hell do we get everyone back to the camp without an ambulance?"

All eyes turned to Kuwabara, who sighed and shook his head.

"Figures…" he complained. "Guess this means I have to give more piggyback rides, huh?"


	12. Chapter Eleven: A Moment's Peace

**To the readers/reviewers:** Stop slapping yourselves, this is no illusion. That's right, I've actually managed to update before two weeks have passed, and yes, that is a flying pig that you see outside your window. That aside, I am extremely grateful for the support you guys are giving to this little fic of mine. As always, please review so that I may continue to improve upon this story. Now then, onward to the next chapter! Dragon Tamer103088: I apologize for my lack of clarity. I have added a bit at the beginning of the third section to help (sections separated with the lines of "0"s).

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Eleven: A Moment's Peace**

Luckily for Kuwabara, Kirara was in good enough shape to help carry the wounded back to the team's camp, though the boy was still forced to carry a few passengers. Upon arrival, the conscious members of the team assessed the damage. While Kirara had made the trip back to the camp easily enough, she was far from being in fighting shape, and Kuwabara had to pull out numerous splinters that had been lodged in her side. Sango was still unconscious, but she had managed to escape the battle with the least damage, only sporting a large bruise on her abdomen. Miroku had attempted to convince the others that he should examine the rest of her body, but they new better than to listen. As for Miroku, it was a testament to his single-mindedness that he was able to focus on acting like a lecher, seeing as his foot had been sprained when he had hit the ground after Youko's kick. This martial prowess of Youko's did have one benefit, however. It left Kurama himself physically uninjured, though he was completely drained of spirit energy and still unconscious. How long it would be before he was back at full strength remained in question.

Inuyasha and Yusuke had so many injuries that if every cut and scrape was bandaged, they would look like a pair of mummies. Thankfully, no single injury was serious enough that it couldn't heal on its own, but with so many of them, fighting was clearly unadvisable. Kagome, one of the few who had not participated in the fight directly, had managed to reopen her wound yet again, and while it was not nearly life threatening, it was still a major hindrance. The same could not be said of Hiei. The beating that Youko had administered to him left him bruised and bleeding all over, with at least two broken ribs and a simply gigantic gash on his back that went from his left shoulder all the way down to his right hip. His body was weary enough to keep dragging him into unconsciousness, but the pain from all his injuries kept mercilessly bringing him back. It was not a sight anyone wanted to bear witness to.

With combined efforts from Kagome, Shippou and Kuwabara under Miroku's direction, everyone managed to get at least temporarily bandaged up. Though even with that taken care of, everyone realized that the situation was far from well. Kuwabara stood as the only fighter in the group that was uninjured, Shippou not withstanding, meaning that he would have to stand alone should Naraku decide to launch an attack. Even he realized that he may not be able to protect the others in such a situation, though no one could tell based on how he was boasting

"…take anything that sissy can throw at me! He can send the demons, robots, or even demon-robots, and I'll kick all their asses!" Kuwabara bragged as he continued to try and convince the others of their safety under his protection. "Because I, the great Kazuma Kuwabara, am a super awesome, extra invincible, kick-ass warrior of justice…times ten!"

"That's it. We're doomed," stated Yusuke with a sigh as Kuwabara attempted to strike a dramatic pose.

"It doesn't matter how skilled you are, Kuwabara," interjected Miroku, attempting to be diplomatic. "We still need a safe shelter to lick our wounds before we can set out against Naraku again. Right now, we don't have one."

"Well, why don't we just go find one then?" demanded Yusuke curtly.

"None of us are really in the condition to go wandering around the forest except Kuwabara, and he's needed here," Miroku explained. "Besides, we can't move until everyone is conscious."

"I could go," volunteered Shippou excitedly, eager to do anything helpful. "I'm not hurt at all."

"Hey, that's a great idea, Shippou," concurred Kagome with an encouraging smile. "Just make sure you're careful, and don't stay out there too long."

"Don't worry, I'm a demon. Of course I'll be OK," the fox demon cub replied confidently, and then bounded off into the woods.

With nothing left to do but wait, the conversation ended, and everyone went to their own personal business. Everyone aside from Inuyasha, anyway, who had never entered the conversation in the first place. He simply sat there, brow furrowed and eyes narrowed, and thought.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

For hours now, Inuyasha had been as a stone, just sitting there while the others busied themselves in the camp. Sango and Kurama had awoken earlier, only to be urged into resting more by Kagome, who seemed to have willingly taken to the role as nurse pro-tem. Hiei still traveled the fringe of unconsciousness and reality, and was unable to even eat any food with the rest of the group during dinner. Inuyasha, too, had not eaten, though he had made a conscious decision not to. His mind was far to busy reflecting on recent events for him to focus on eating. First it had been Hiei, then Kurama, and at last himself. Three members of the party had posed a threat to their comrades in as many days. It was too troubling to _not_ think about.

_'The same things could so easily happen again,'_ he thought grimly. _'Youko could come back, or Hiei could lose control again, and so much more could happen, too. What if Naraku finds a way to make Miroku's Wind Tunnel too powerful to seal? What if Sango loses it and goes rogue again? What if those Spirit Detectives decide to take our jewel shards and leave?'_

He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. These things may have been possible, but he knew that the odds of them actually happening were next to nothing. No, the real reason for his anxiety wasn't his teammates. It was himself.

_'Damn it, who am I kidding? If there's anyone that can't be trusted here, it's me,'_ he admitted to himself. _'Hiei was being mind controlled, and Kurama had to get a jewel shard in him before Youko came out. All I did was drop my sword, and I nearly killed that kid. Who knows what will happen next time?'_

He looked back towards the camp, where Kagome was rummaging through her backpack for some food. Kagome had stopped him from doing something horrible this day, as she had done on other occasions where he'd transformed. Though truthfully, she stopped him from doing horrible things ever since the first day he'd met her, and, though Inuyasha would never even admit it to himself, he was grateful for it.

_'What if she can't stop me next time? I could kill her…'_ he continued to think as the girl in question noticed the look on his face and walked over to him. _'No. That won't happen. I won't let it.'_

"Something on your mind?" asked Kagome as she gingerly sat herself down beside the half demon.

"It's nothin'," lied Inuyasha dismissively before he noticed that Kagome had her hand resting on her wounded side. "Your wound still hurt?"

"A little, but it's much better than before," replied Kagome like she was talking about a simple scratch. "Besides, yours are a lot worse. You should let me patch them up."

"I told you before, I'm fine," he said defensively, but this only made Kagome smile.

"OK, but if you change your mind, I have some bandages in my bag," she relented as she stood herself up. "Goodnight, Inuyasha."

"'Night, Kagome," he responded, and then tried to find a way to get some sleep.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

The first thing that Hiei noticed when he finally came back into complete consciousness was that he was on the ground. This was startling realization number one. Hiei had not spent a day sleeping anywhere but in a tree since he had been forced to live in a hotel during the dark tournament. That he was not in one now was deeply troubling. The next thing he noticed, or startling realization number two, was that he was in a tremendous amount of pain. In fact, it was some of the more intense pain that he had felt in his entire life. Naturally, this was also a bad sign. Then came startling realization number three: voices. Like with the tree, Hiei never, under any circumstances, slept near other people, meaning he should not be hearing voices.

Startling realization number three caused Hiei to instinctively reach for his sword, which led him to startling realization number four: he couldn't find his sword. Apparently, it only takes four startling realizations for Hiei to go into panic mode, because that's precisely what he did. Ignoring the pain, the fire demon quickly pushed himself off of the ground and onto his feet, raising his spirit energy and looking wildly about the area with his Jagan Eye blazing. Needless to say, this startled everyone else that was in the camp, Kuwabara so much so that he almost choked on his breakfast. It turns out that all Hiei needed to do to avoid this sudden outburst was make a fifth startling realization: the massive wound on his back was now covered with a medical bandage that wrapped around his torso like a bandolier, and it was accompanied by several band-aids on his smaller cuts

Realizing the rashness of his actions, Hiei growled and sat down with a grimace from the pain. He remembered now. The fight with Youko, if you could call it a fight, had left him broken upon the grass and the humiliation he felt upon realizing this was great enough to quell his sudden anger. Adding to that humiliation was that he realized he was the last one to regain complete consciousness after the battle. This humiliation really served no purpose, though. It was just…humiliating.

"'Bout time, three-eyes," reproached Yusuke as Hiei located his sword and moved to retrieve it. "We were about to head out without ya'."

"My appreciation exceeds words," responded Hiei with much more than a hint of sarcasm. "And just where are you planning to go?"

"I found a cave!" chimed in Shippou proudly.

"We figured that we should find a place to safely recuperate, so we sent Shippou to find us some refuge," explained Miroku adjusting the makeshift crutch he had constructed.

"Hn, there is no 'we'," scoffed Hiei as he attached his sword to his hip and reached for his black cloak. "_You_ are going to a cave. _I_ am going wherever I please."

The fire demon quickly donned his cloak, and turned to walk into the woods. However, after only a few steps, he was stopped by a hand on his left shoulder. Turning his head slightly, he recognized the hand as Sango's.

"Just where do you think you're going in that shape?" asked the demon slayer sternly, keeping a firm grip on Hiei's shoulder. "Your wounds are too great for you to travel alone."

"Woman…" started Hiei slowly with deadly seriousness. "Get your hand off of me, or I will _cut_ it off."

"If you keep acting like such a stubborn idiot, you're going to get yourself killed," stated Sango, her grip on Hiei's shoulder unfaltering.

"My fate is of no concern to you," the irate demon retorted before thumbing his katana out of it's sheathe slightly. "Now let go. _Now_."

At last, Sango slowly removed her hand from the shoulder, apparently relenting. However, that was merely a ruse, for she abruptly moved the hand to the back of Hiei's neck, placing her fingers on several very specific points and squeezing hard. Caught completely unaware, the only movement Hiei managed was opening his eyelids wide in surprise, and then he went limp. Being as careful as possible, the demon slayer lifted Hiei in her arms and carried him over to an already transformed Kirara and placed him upon the twin-tail's back. Noticing the rather astonished stares she was receiving from her companions, she returned their gazes with a puzzled look.

"What? He's half dead. If we'd let him run off like this, I doubt we'd be hearing from him again," she clarified. "Now then, are we going, or what?"

"Yes, let's make haste," suggested Miroku as he hobbled over to Kirara and sat himself down behind Hiei's sleeping form. "I don't wish to be the closest person to Hiei when he wakes up."

After a few more moments to gather the remainder of the supplies, the group had set out, with Shippou proudly taking up the lead. Soon, several conversations had sprung up among the group, ranging from Kagome trying to explain to Inuyasha what a shower was, to Kuwabara and Yusuke discussing whether the pile-driver or the elbow drop was a better finishing move in wrestling. Having no real interest in any conversation going on at the moment, Kurama walked silently onward next to Kirara, where Miroku was trying to find a comfortable position that was also unlikely to wake Hiei.

"I saw you creating another sutra last night," spoke up Kurama after a few minutes.

At this, Miroku tensed slightly, but he did not say anything. What was there _to_ say?

"It is understandable," continued Kurama after a moment's pause. "I put you all in great peril, so taking a precaution like that makes perfect sense."

Still, Miroku said nothing in response. He did, however stop fidgeting, and look downwards slightly. He would remain this way for the rest of the journey to the cave.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

For the second time that day, Hiei awoke to unfamiliar surroundings. This time, however, he had no startling realizations, and he had no confusion as to how he had ended up where he was now. Cursing whatever entity decided it would be amusing to create pressure points, he rose to a sitting position and looked around. As expected, he was in a decently sized cave, and the rest of the group scattered about it either resting or trying to pass the time. The only one missing was Sango.

"Awake at last, I see," commented Kurama from his seat to Hiei's left. "Sango's little technique works far better than I had anticipated..."

"Kurama, think about how much you value the ability to walk before you continue," warned Hiei with a snarl. "As for the demon slayer, she'll be lucky if that's _all_ she loses for her insolence when I find her."

"She's only looking out for your well being," rationalized Kurama, shaking his head in amusement. "You should be grateful."

"I don't care what her intentions are, it's irritating," growled Hiei stubbornly.

Kurama sighed at his friend's childish display. Hiei had a lot of good qualities, but acceptance was not among them. In all his life, his Spirit Detective teammates had been the only ones he had really displayed any kind of friendship towards, and even that appeared in limited quantities. Not being a "people person" didn't even come close to describing it.

"You're an idiot, you know," voiced Kurama after a few moments of silence.

"I'm warning you fox…" cautioned Hiei menacingly as he grabbed his sword from its place against the wall.

"Honestly, would it really do that much harm if you for once showed gratitude for something someone did for you?" asked Kurama unfazed by Hiei's threats.

"Hn," the fire demon grunted. "I've made it clear that I don't care what happens to anyone. They should have the same sentiments about me."

"Well, it's quite apparent that some people don't," replied Kurama patiently. "Sango, for example, clearly doesn't. In fact, I suspect she…"

Kurama trailed off and began to stroke his chin, as if he suddenly needed to think about what he was about to say. At this, Hiei raised an eyebrow. Kurama rarely second guessed himself.

"You were saying?" inquired Hiei, his curiosity now roused.

"My point is that you should return some kindness on occasion," concluded Kurama, diverting the conversation away from what he had almost said. "It's not as painful as you make it seem."

"Hn. If that was your point, then you've just wasted your time," scoffed the fire demon. "I do what I please."

With a final sigh of exasperation, Kurama finally allowed the conversation to be abandoned. Whether Hiei would even bother to recall his advice latter was a questionable possibility at best, but he had felt the urge to say _something_. He had always had a knack for reading people, and it was this knack that led him to a very interesting hypothesis regarding Sango. However, he realized that it would best that he not interfere with it. If Hiei was to find it, he needed to do so on his own.

Meanwhile, the rest of the cave was unusually peaceful. Noticing this, Kagome looked around to see what the usual suspects were doing. Inuyasha was sleeping, Kuwabara was doing an exceptional job at cheating in a card game against Miroku and Shippou, and Yusuke was alone in a corner doing...something. Curious, Kagome rose and made her way over to the unusually silent boy. As she got closer, it began to look like Yusuke was meditating. She may not be a martial arts expert, but she knew that meditation required concentration, and she tried to back away as silently as possible.

"You don't need to try and be so sneaky," voiced Yusuke without moving. "I'm not doing some stupid zen thing or anything."

"Oh, well what _are_ you doing?" she asked, a little embarrassed with her behavior.

"I'm trying to use a technique called the Spirit Wave to heal myself," he explained. "But I can't get the damn thing to work right. At this rate, all I'll do is recover a little faster. Damn it! I can't believe that old hag forgot to teach me this shit."

Too frustrated to continue, Yusuke broke his trance like position and leaned his back against the wall. Kagome smiled at his pose. Right now, he looked an awful lot like Inuyasha. It was only now, though that she noticed his hair. Normally, it was slicked back against his head like some kind of greasy thug, but now it was only partially so, with some of the hair sticking out in random directions.

"What's with your hair?" asked Kagome, trying to hold back a giggle.

"I…uh…" began the Spirit Detective and then turned his head away from Kagome and muttered something incoherent.

"What was that?" Kagome inquired with a little smile, almost positive she knew what the response would be.

"I…ran out of gel," said Yusuke finally, though it was still barley loud enough for Kagome to hear.

By now, Kagome could no, longer keep her laughter in check, and began to giggle like the school girl she was. Yusuke, now thoroughly humiliated, began to turn just a slight shade of red.

"It's OK, I won't tell anyone about your dirty little secret, tough guy," Kagome teased. "You can use some of my hair products if you want."

"Can it already," grumbled Yusuke. "Why don't you go hang out with your fuzzy-eared boyfriend?"

Now it was Kagome's turn to blush. Looking around to see if any of the other occupants of the cave had noticed her reaction she cleared her throat and tried desperately to regain her composure. It wasn't working that well.

"Don't be silly," she responded, doing a very poor job of being dismissive. "Inuyasha _isn't_ my boyfriend."

The tables now effectively turned, Yusuke's embarrassment was now replaced with smug satisfaction. It was clear that he was going to take full advantage of this situation.

"Gee, that's funny," he began with a smirk. "That's exactly what he said back in that fogged up forest."

"He did?" she asked with interest, realizing to late the mistake she had just made.

"Ha! You wouldn't care so much if he _wasn't_ your boyfriend," taunted Yusuke, his smirk now fully evolved into a devilish grin.

"Shut up," Kagome hissed, noticing the stares of some of the others in the cave who had noticed the commotion. "Stop being so immature."

"Say," began Yusuke in a mock whisper, still sporting the grin. "When you kiss him, does he sometimes bite your tongue with those pointy fangs?"

By now Kagome was as red as a tomato, and she had taken about all she could stand from the sarcastic Spirit Detective. Wishing that she could use the "sit" command on Yusuke, she took the best alternative and gave him a swift kick in the gut. Despite being caught by surprise, Yusuke quickly recovered from the retaliatory strike and burst out in uncontrollable laughter as Kagome walked away in a huff back towards her bag. Awoken by the sudden commotion, Inuyasha yawned and stretched a little before noticing Kagome's enraged expression.

"Somethin' wrong?" he asked sleepily.

"Sit, boy!"

With that oh so familiar purple glow, Inuyasha found his face being slammed against the cave floor, which was considerably harder than the grass and dirt he was used to. Picking his face of the floor, he couldn't help but feel confused.

"What'd I do?" he moaned to nobody in particular, hoping for any kind of sympathy.

Back in his corner, Yusuke was overcome with a fresh wave of hysterical laughter.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Sango adjusted the small bag of supplies she had foraged slightly as she began to get closer to the cave that the group had made their temporary home. It was not elevated off of he ground, but it was covered by dense foliage, which at least provided them with slight protection against Naraku's scouts. As she came within sight of the vines that covered the entrance, she noticed a black clad figure sitting a short distance to the right of the entrance with its back against the mountain. Recognizing who it was almost instantly, Sango smiled and walked over.

"You should be inside resting," she chided the fire demon as she approached.

"Hn, I can rest _here_," Hiei scoffed without looking at her, and after a pause changed to a more sinister tone. "I should kill you for what you did earlier."

"You won't," Sango stated without a hint of concern and then leaned against the mountainside and looked outward nonchalantly.

"Don't presume to know me, woman," Hiei snapped in response, placing a hand on his katana's sheathe as if to intimidate the demon slayer, though he still avoided looking at her.

"I don't need to _presume_ to know you," replied Sango, her gaze also staying outward. "You're not a hard guy to figure out."

"Hn, you fool," the demon snorted. "You couldn't possibly hope to understand anything about me."

"Is that so?" Sango challenged, finally shifting her vision back to Hiei. "Enlighten me."

Hiei stayed silent. While it was certainly a step up from death threats, it wasn't exactly what Sango would consider friendly for most people, either. For Hiei, though, it may just qualify.

"Fine, have it your way for now, but don't think you've gotten out of this," she said as she turned and made for the door before suddenly stopping and pulling a large fruit out of the bag she was carrying. "Oh, and since you're probably not going to come back into the cave…"

Suddenly, she turned around and whipped the fruit right at Hiei's head. Without even looking in the direction of the edible projectile, Hiei just raised his right hand and caught it deftly out of the air. Smiling, Sango turned back around and walked into the cave. When she had left, Hiei eyed the fruit for a moment, and then took a bite out of it.

'_That woman,' _he thought as he spit out a seed. _'She is starting to become a nuisance.'_


	13. Chapter Twelve: Unexpected Visitors

**To the readers/reviewers:** You are witnessing quite the rarity, my friends. This is my second straight chapter that I have managed to write in less than a week, and I'm pretty sure it's not crappy either. Of course, I'm biased, so as always, tell me what you think in your reviews. Your continued support through both reviewing and simply reading this fic is greatly appreciated. I'm sure you're sick of hearing me babble, so here comes the next chapter.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Twelve: Unexpected Visitors**

It had only been two days since the group had begun their stay in the cave, and Yusuke was positive that he was on the brink of insanity. Anyone who knew the boy well knew that he had little patience, and he had even less when there was something out there that needed a good ass kicking, something Naraku definitely qualified for. To make things worse, he had failed utterly in his attempts to use the Spirit Wave to heal himself, meaning that he was going to have to rely on Kuwabara and Sango if an attack came. The fact that the demon slayer would take some of the glory away from the big lug now that she was better helped ease the pounding his pride was taking, but that he was being protected at all was still humiliating. At least he'd been able to occupy himself with the mission of irritating every other person in the cave until they became as angry with him as he was with their current situation.

Kagome, of course, had been his first victim, and while it was certainly hilarious, he knew he could do even better. So, he set the bar even higher by going after two targets at once. He'd found a fruit that became an almost paint like substance when it was smashed up, and he had managed to get it all over Miroku's hands without the monk noticing. All that was left to was sit back and watch as the lecherous monk predictably groped Sango's butt when the opportunity presented itself. The end result was Miroku suffering a hard hit on the head from Sango's boomerang and the furious demon slayer walking around with a large, red handprint on her butt for almost an hour before someone finally let her know of its existence. Yusuke had to dodge a few rocks thrown his way afterwards, but it had been most assuredly worth it.

Unfortunately, that had been the highpoint. The rest was amusing, but overall very standard for Yusuke. Helping Shippou beat Kuwabara at cards and then taunting his friend about his losing streak when it came to competing against small children, and even throwing a stick at Inuyasha repeatedly and telling him to "fetch" hadn't been able to top his second prank, but that was all about to change. He'd found an excellent co-conspirator in Shippou. Shape shifting, it turns out, is the perfect skill for being an all around pest, as Hiei was about to find out. The little fox demon had transformed into a replica of Hiei, complete with sword, and was now making his way to the fire demon as he sat in a far corner of the cave.

"Rarr! I am Hiei!" declared the fake Hiei with a humorous looking scowl as he waved his sword about in the air. "I'm a huge loner and big party pooper! Don't talk to me or I will cut you up with my sword and eat babies! Grrr! I hate people and so on!"

_'Damn, I'm good,'_ gloated Yusuke inwardly as he and the rest of the cave began to laugh uproariously as the fake Hiei continued to wave his sword around and growl. _'I should start writing some of this stuff down.'_

Hiei, however, did not find it amusing in the least. Death was in his eyes as he rose off the cavern floor and slowly stepped towards his impersonator, unsheathing his sword. Now trembling with fear, Shippou quickly transformed into his normal form and began to plead with the enraged fire demon.

"You wouldn't hurt a little kid, would ya'?" he begged, unable to control his shaking.

Without saying a word, Hiei brought his foot back and gave the little fox demon a swift kick. While he had been holding back to avoid giving the little demon any serious injuries, it had sufficient force to send Shippou flying across the cave and through the vines that covered the entrance, wailing rather comically the whole way. This caused a new wave of laughter from everyone else, but an icy glare from Hiei was enough to get most everyone to stop laughing. Even Yusuke and Kurama reduced their laughter to a chuckle. They knew Hiei's business glare, and that was it. Yusuke was a little surprised that Sango was joining with them, though. Reasoning that her continued chuckling was due to the greatness of his joke, Yusuke made to cash in on Hiei's escalated bad mood.

"Admit it, Hiei," he voiced flashing his signature smirk. "That was dead on."

"Funny how you should use the word 'dead'," retorted Hiei with a snarl, the Jagan glowing from behind his headband as he turned to face the boy.

"You really ought to develop a sense of humor, Hiei," advised Kurama, though he was unable to hold back a smile.

"Yeah, lighten up a little," seconded Sango, causing Hiei's incensed gaze to shift in her direction.

Hiei opened his mouth to retort with what would undoubtedly be a death threat, but before he could emit a sound he abruptly stopped. Shutting his jaw and narrowing his eyes, he turned to the cave entrance. His Jagan glowed as it gazed outward through the vines.

"There are two Sacred Jewel shards approaching," he stated. "I'm going to kill whatever has them."

"Good idea!" agreed Inuyasha with a little too much enthusiasm. "Go kill him!"

At this everyone turned towards Inuyasha and threw suspicious glances his direction. Realizing his error, Inuyasha clumsily tried to rectify the mistake

"Of course that's just if it actually _is_ a guy," he continued ineptly. "I mean it _could_ be a girl, I guess. It's just that most demons that we fight are guys and…"

"Save it Inuyasha," intervened Kagome, letting out a sigh. "I bet I know who it is."

Before anyone could ask who Kagome was referring to, Shippou darted into the cave as quickly as the vines would allow him, panting a little from the effort. Apparently, Hiei had kicked him a very long way.

"Hey guys, I think I saw Kouga heading this way!" announced the minute fox demon, pointing back outside the cave for emphasis.

"I knew it!" exclaimed Kagome triumphantly. "Don't worry, he's an ally of ours."

Despite this new piece of information, Hiei still stood with sword drawn, as if he still had to make a difficult decision. Not wanting to take any chances, Kurama spoke up.

"I believe she's right, Hiei," he assured his volatile friend. "Stand down."

With his usual grunt, Hiei sheathed his sword and retreated back into the far corner of the cave. Whoever this newcomer was, Hiei wanted no interaction with him. That is, if he wasn't allowed to kill him. Just as the fire demon had assumed his seat, a sudden gust of wind blew back the vines that covered the cave entrance, and a wolf demon male stepped inside. With the confident grin, his ponytail blowing in the wind and a posture that made him look like he was posing for a picture, Hiei knew immediately that he would regret not killing this demon.

"It's a good thing my sense of smell is so good, Kagome, or else I might not have noticed that you were in the area," Kouga greeted Kagome, clearly trying to act as charming as he possibly could before he noticed that Kagome had a few more companions then last time. "Well, it looks like you've gained a few more followers since the last time we met. Can't say I blame 'em for wanting to be around you."

"Hey, if you're gonna' try and insult me, say it to my face, wolf-boy!" bellowed Yusuke angrily, rising and clenching his fist in challenge to the offending party.

"Sit down, human. Don't embarrass yourself," he snorted dismissively before walking up to Kagome and kneeling before her. "I only came to see how my lovely lady was doing."

Though the Spirit Detectives had never been informed of the situation with Kouga, the image before them told all that was necessary. Kouga gently holding Kagome's hand in his, flashing a charming smile, the awkward half-smile that Kagome was doing her best to keep from turning into a grimace, and the barred teeth and twitching eyelid of Inuyasha gave them a more clear perspective than words could manage. In a moment, though, Kouga halted his fawning and sniffed the air near Kagome's side. His eyes now alive with shock, the wolf demon abruptly lifted her shirt slightly to reveal the slightly bloody bandages that covered the wound Youko had dealt her. Gritting his teeth and furrowing his brow in anger, Kouga shifted his gaze towards Inuyasha and glared death at the half-demon.

"You worthless mutt! How could you let Kagome get hurt?" he demanded accusingly.

"I'm fine Kouga, really," voiced Kagome diplomatically, sensing the inevitable conflict brewing.

"Yeah, and you're not helpin' her get better pestering her like that, you mangy wolf," butted in Inuyasha, either ignoring or unaware of Kagome's attempt to diffuse the situation.

"Shut up, you stupid mutt! Can't you see that I'm having a moment with my woman?" retorted Kouga, causing Kagome's phony cheerful expression to look even more awkward.

For a while, this back and forth continued as the rest of the cave's occupants looked on with exasperation. There was no legitimate purpose to the debate other then to call the other party as many crude things as possible, yet it kept the two locked in verbal combat. After a while, something set off Kuwabara's senses, but he was unable to concentrate with all of the background noise.

"Hey!" yelled Kuwabara, suddenly interrupting the back and forth as he rose and looked towards the cave entrance. "Shut up! I think I felt something."

Both bickering demons paused and sniffed the air. Their expressions quickly turned serious, and they both rose abruptly at the same time.

"It's that damned witch. I'd know her scent anywhere," growled Kouga, cracking his knuckles in anticipation. "And she's got a bunch of lesser demons with her, too."

"You idiot, I bet she followed you here!" reprimanded Inuyasha crossly. "We were trying to stay hidden, but you messed it up!"

"What's the matter mutt, afraid?" taunted Kouga, eager to show up the half-demon.

"Actually, Kouga, almost everyone here is injured," corrected Kagome, trying to end the argument. "We needed time to recover, so we decided to hide in this cave."

"Then never fear, my dear Kagome! I won't let a single demon into this cave!" declared the wolf demon, thumping his chest proudly.

By now, Sango had retrieved her boomerang, and had joined a waiting Kuwabara at the cave entrance. Upon hearing Kouga offer his support, Kuwabara turned around and snorted skeptically.

"If you wanna' do something useful, the guard the cave while we go out and beat the crap out of that witch and her stupid gang," counseled Kuwabara condescendingly. "A skinny punk like you'll just get in my way."

Before Kuwabara had even finished his sentence, however, Kouga had already sprinted past him, kicking up a trail of dust. Though shocked by Kouga's speed, Kuwabara's pride compelled him to give chase so as not to let the newcomer steal his glory. With Kouga long gone and Kuwabara running after him with obscenities pouring out of his mouth, Sango relegated herself to guarding the cave entrance. It was impossible for her_ not_ to let out a sigh as Kuwabara bowled over Kouga's winded followers that were wearily trying to turn around and follow their leader without success.

"Is it just me, or is everyone else just a little nervous that our lives may be in the hands of those two?" asked Yusuke rhetorically as Kuwabara's yelling began to leave earshot.

"Don't worry," Miroku assured the boy. "Kouga can fight far better than he can take a hint."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

By the time Kuwabara had managed to catch up with Kouga, the speedy wolf demon had already thrown himself into Naraku's lesser demons. He zigzagged through their ranks at breakneck speed, slamming his fists into every demon in his path. While many people would be awed by this display of martial skill, it only made Kuwabara angrier. As he saw it, this was his battle and his glory, and Kouga had no right to it. Calling forth twin Spirit Swords into his hands, the boy leapt into the fray with a thunderous battle cry, cutting down any and all demons that were in his path. Not wanting for a mere human to outdo him, Kouga resolved to take the fight to the next level, and put more force behind every blow and more speed into his movements.

Within minutes, the ground was covered in mangled demon corpses, so sliced into a varying amount of pieces by Kuwabara, and others simply crushed by Kouga's vicious punches and kicks. Still, though, Kagura had not shown herself, and Kouga was becoming anxious. As he laid a booming roundhouse kick into another demon, he took a quick sniff of the air, just to confirm that she was indeed present. However, his efforts were unnecessary, for a moment later, a small barrage of purple energy blades could be seen streaking for Kuwabara's back.

"Nice try, but you're not that sneaky," he taunted as he whirled about and batted the energy blades back towards their owner with his swords.

Having no more choice in the matter, Kagura finally showed herself, leaping away from the energy blades and landing with a flourish. The rest of the demons backed away from the three slowly, forming a sort of ring for the three combatants.

"It's about time that I killed you, witch," declared Kouga, stretching out his neck in preparation. "My comrades will be avenged!"

"Have you already forgotten the last time you tried, wolf?" retorted Kagura mockingly. "I practically killed you, and you had to be saved by Inuyasha and his friends."

"Hey, wind lady!" yelled Kuwabara as he leapt at the wind sorceress with both Spirit Swords raised high above his head. "_I'm_ the guy that's gonna' beat ya'!"

Kagura easily leaped away from the downward slice and let loose another Dance of Blades at Kuwabara. As Kuwabara was trying to send the attack back at her with his Spirit Swords, Kouga charged right towards Kagura. Smirking at her assailants' foolishness, she simply leapt back slightly as the blades Kuwabara had reflected slammed right into the spot where she had been, and Kouga now occupied. Fortunately, the wolf demon's great speed allowed him to avoid most of the blades, save one that clipped his left shoulder. His fortune did not do anything to quell his anger at the one who had sent the blades towards him, however.

"You moron! You hit me!" he yelled at Kuwabara furiously.

"Well I wouldn't have if you'd just stayed out of the way, stupid!" came back Kuwabara with equal rage. "I don't need your help to beat this lady!"

Both parties were forced to cut their argument short as another stream of blades came hurtling towards them. Kouga used his speed to dodge the attack easily enough, while Kuwabara dodged some, and used his swords to fend off others. Kouga attempted to move in for an attack, but Kagura unleashed a small tornado in his direction before he reached his target, forcing him to cut the attack short to avoid being trapped in the whirlwind like in their previous battle. Kuwabara attempted to take advantage of her momentary lapse in attention to strike her, but Kagura sent yet another whirlwind in his direction, forcing him to take the same course of action as Kouga.

"Can't handle my Dance of the Dragon, huh?" jeered Kagura while the two regrouped next to each other.

"Ya' know…maybe you _could_ help," whispered Kuwabara, being as silent as possible. "You go left, I'll go right."

"_You_ may need my help, but _I_ don't need yours, human," hissed the wolf demon angrily. "I can handle her without you."

Without another thought, Kouga sprinted towards Kagura with all his speed, leaving Kuwabara growling in frustration behind him. Kuwabara had always been a bit of a team player, but since becoming part of Yusuke's Spirit Detective team, he had learned to recognize situations that absolutely required that sort of behavior. This was one of those times, but Kouga just was not getting it. His charge, consequently, met with failure as Kagura sent forth another whirlwind to throw him off his course and followed up with a torrent of energy blades. Leaping nimbly to and fro to avoid the attack, Kouga finally made his way back to Kuwabara when the blades at last stopped coming.

"Now you wanna' try it my way?" asked Kuwabara chidingly.

"Fine," ceded Kouga begrudgingly. "But you'd better know what you're doing."

"Don't worry, she can't take both of us at once," assured the boy, readying himself. "All right, let's go!"

On Kuwabara's signal, both dashed off in their respective directions, setting up for a pincer attack. Recognizing that Kouga's speed made him the more immediate threat, Kagura tried to slow him with yet another whirlwind, but the wolf demon managed to skirt around it without slowing down much, forcing Kagura into desperate action. Just before Kouga reached her, she pulled a feather out of her hair and with a burst of wind took the skies on the now oversized hair accessory. However, even before she had made it above the trees, Kuwabara pulled a desperate maneuver of his own. Pointing the Spirit Sword in his left hand down towards the ground, he called for his blades to extend, and they obeyed. The sword in His left hand had propelled him high up into the air, but Kagura was slightly higher than he was, and she was still rising. As quickly as he could, he swung the Spirit Sword in his right hand, now also of gigantic proportions, desperately at the sky bound sorceress.

It turned out that the Spirit Sword was just long enough. The blade didn't hit Kagura, but it did slice her feather out from under her, sending her tumbling towards the Earth. She used the wind to slow her fall, but as she fell below the canopies of the trees, she noticed Kouga flying at her, fist extended to strike. Yet, the fist never connected, though she did feel a gust of air as it whizzed right by the left side of her head. Despite this close call, she had a confident smirk on her face as she landed upon the ground gracefully.

"Heh, all that work and you still missed," she ridiculed the duo, reaching up to her hair for the spare feather she kept there.

Her confidence, quickly turned to panic, however, for where her feather was supposed to be, she felt nothing.

"Looking for this?" inquired Kouga, taking his own turn to smirk as he held up the feather in question in his hand, and then promptly ground it into nothing. "Oops. Doesn't look like you're gonna' be running away this time, are ya'?"

"Nice one, wolf boy," congratulated Kuwabara as he decreased the length of his Spirit Swords back to normal to lower himself back to earth. "Now we got 'er."

Suddenly, a creature in a white baboon skin leapt out from the bushes towards the seemingly victorious pair. With a kick from Kouga and a slash from Kuwabara, the demon puppet was easily destroyed, but when they turned back to where Kagura had been, they found her gone.

"Damn! She's trying to run away on foot," cursed Kouga, and then began to dash off in the direction of her scent. "I won't let you get away!"

Kuwabara at first thought to follow, but then he noticed that all the demons who had previously been observing were now closing in on him.

_'If I don't kill these guys, they could go after the others,'_ he realized, hacking the head off of the first demon to get within reach. _'I guess I'll have to let that guy get the witch.'_

Before he could start to lay waste to the demons before him, however, he heard a female voice yell out a battle cry, and Sango's massive boomerang swooped in to do his job for him. Catching the returning weapon, Sango landed next to him and went to work on slaying the nearest demons.

"Kuwabara, don't let Kouga kill Kagura," she ordered as she crushed the skull of another demon with her boomerang. "If we capture her, she can lead us right to Naraku."

"Hey, good idea! I'll go after 'em," he agreed, with a nod, and then charged through the ranks of demons, using his senses to try and locate the wolf demon and his prey.

This was without a doubt the best opportunity to find Naraku that had yet presented itself, and even someone like Kuwabara, who didn't think far beyond what method would best beat up his opponent, realized this. Naraku was a genius in terms of strategy, and he had fooled some of the most cunning minds with his schemes. Now, his least strategic enemy of all, Kazuma Kuwabara, had the opportunity to turn the tables.


	14. Chapter Thirteen: The Upper Hand

**To the readers/reviewers:** Oh my, I've really done quite a bad thing, haven't I? I spoiled you guys with two quick updates, and then I take a whopping three weeks to update again. My apologies. Anyway, the third crossover was mentioned, so I think I'll say a little bit about that. As of now, I still plan on a third crossover, but I am having some small doubts. When we reach the point where the third crossover is scheduled to appear, I will ask your opinion on the matter. Don't tell me what you think about it now, though, because it's still a little ways off, and when you see the chapters leading up to that point, it may change your mind. At any rate, please keep reading and reviewing. I really appreciate all the support you guys are giving me. Now then, it's ficcin' time!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Thirteen: ****The Upper Hand**

By nature, all wolves are hunters, and wolf demons were no different. As such, Kouga felt perfectly at home as he stalked through the forest, eyes darting every which way in search of his prey. His scent had led him into a particularly dense part of the forest, and it told him that Kagura was very near. Unfortunately, scent can only go so far, and he was now forced to finish the job with his eyes. To be sure, Kagura deserved commendation for avoiding him for as long as she had, for so successful was she in her hiding that the young wolf demon that pursued her was becoming incredibly frustrated.

"Come out and face me, coward!" he bellowed furiously, unable to control himself any longer.

Unfortunately, this simple challenge proved to be his undoing. As he was yelling, the wind slowly began to whirl around to spot he was standing, but he was unable to hear it over the sound of his own voice. By the time he had stopped shouting and recognized what was happening, to time to correct his mistake had long since passed. A large whirlwind burst to life around Kouga, uprooting to surrounding plant life as it spun furiously about the wolf demon. Through the vortex, Kouga could make out the form of Kagura, standing mere meters away from him and laughing triumphantly. He was unable to attack his foe, however, because plants and trees that had been sucked into the maelstrom had been turned into deadly weapons by the speed of the wind that carried them.

Even as Kouga began to defend himself by punching and kicking at the now deadly objects, he could not help but feel a slight sense of shame. The situation he was in now was almost a duplicate of his previous battle with the wind sorceress, and any warrior knows it is laughable to be defeated in the same manner twice.

_'Wait a second, this isn't the same,'_ he realized suddenly. _'The last time, she had a bunch of corpses that she could command. That's right! Those are what trapped me with when I jumped out of the tornado. Without those, I can beat her with the same move!'_

With this realization, his confidence sky rocketed, and with a powerful leap, his body followed suit, easily clearing the height of the tornado. To counter this, Kagura allowed the tornado to die out, and focused her energy on loosing a volley of her deadly purple energy blades at her airborne adversary. Kouga twisted his body madly to avoid the blades, and was met with success. While one blade managed to cut into his right side, it was not enough to throw him off his course, which was straight downwards towards Kagura. As he neared the wind sorceress, he extended out his foot in preparation to crush his assailant beneath him, yet the only thing he made contact with was the ground that crumbled beneath the force of his blow. Much to his dismay, Kagura had rolled out of the way at the last second; avoiding his lethal attack by mere inches and leaving him wide open to an attack.

Knowing that she was merely one attack away from victory, Kagura quickly raised her fan to finish Kouga off. Just before she could do so, a blue and orange blur flew across her line of vision, and now she only held _half_ of her fan above her head.

"Sucker," taunted Kuwabara as he landed on the ground and turned smirking towards the wind sorceress.

Kuwabara likely had further to say regarding the subject of Kagura being a "sucker", but he didn't get the opportunity to extrapolate. Instead, Kouga immediately seized the opportunity before him by rushing Kagura and delivering a mighty kick to her side with his right leg. Now totally defenseless, Kagura could do nothing as she was hurled into a large tree. Even as she tried to stand, Kouga was already right on top of her, and knocked her unconscious with a final right handed haymaker that sent her flying into yet another tree.

"And now, I'll finish you," stated Kouga, panting as he stalked forward towards Kagura's incapacitated form. "At last, I'll have my vengeance."

Knowing what Kouga was about to do, Kuwabara quickly placed himself in front of the wolf demon, blocking his path.

"Nuh-uh, can't do that," he stated, shaking one of his Spirit Swords at Kouga.

"Why in the hell not?" demanded Kouga furiously.

"'Cause we can make her take us to that Naraku guy," answered Kuwabara, not moving form his position. "Plus, hitting a lady when she's throwing crazy cutting things at ya' is one thing, but a real man never hits a lady that isn't doin' that."

"I don't need a damn lecture from you human!" yelled Kouga as his rage continued to grow. "This is personal!"

"Doesn't matter, it 'aint happenin'," declared Kuwabara steadfastly, still refusing to get out of the way.

With a final roar of frustration, Kouga charged Kuwabara with incredible speed, and before the boy could react, the wolf demon was upon him. After a quick three punch combination to the abdominal region, Kouga sent Kuwabara hurtling through the air with a powerful rising knee to his chin. With a crash, Kuwabara landed among the bushes, and Kouga had nothing left between him and his revenge. Panting heavily from the effort he had exerted in the day's battles, he walked up to Kagura and reached down for her throat. Before he made contact, though, a storm of small black pellets peppered the ground around him, unleashing a sudden cloud of gas. Kouga began to cough and his vision became slightly blurred, but he was not so weak as to be rendered unconscious by such tricks. In desperation, he pulled his fist back and prepared to crush his mortal enemy's windpipe in one blow. Before he could go through with it, though, Kuwabara's fist slammed into the back of his head, and he fell, incapacitated.

"Ugh…this stuff makes me want to throw up," complained Kuwabara, clutching his stomach and plugging his nose. "Why couldn't ya' use that big thing you carry around?"

"If I had hit him too hard with Hiraikotsu, he may have been seriously injured or even killed," explained Sango as she stepped into view. "It's a good thing I restocked my poison powder supply."

"POISON?" screamed Kuwabara in a panic, holding his breath and scrambling to get out of the smoky haze that surrounded him.

"It's not deadly, you big oaf," she assured Kuwabara with a sigh at his antics.

As Kuwabara continued to cough and spit in a ridiculous attempt to get the poison out of his system, a new party entered the area. It was Kouga's two followers and their pack of wolves, who nearly collapsed on the ground when they came to stop upon seeing their leader unconscious on the ground.

"What…happened…to…Kouga," demanded one of the wolf demons as he simultaneously tried to gasp for air.

"He was tryin' to kill the witch lady, so I knocked him out," summarized Kuwabara, making no effort to be tactful whatsoever.

"We think we can get her to lead us to Naraku," elaborated Sango quickly, not wanting to create yet another conflict.

"Actually…that seems reasonable," commented the other wolf demon, now having caught his breath enough to speak normally. "Which would explain why Kouga wouldn't want to go along with it."

"Yeah, he can be pretty hot-headed at times," agreed the first wolf demon, nodding his head.

"We should get them back to the cave," advised Sango, getting back to the matter at hand.

Kuwabara nodded in concurrence and scooped Kagura off the ground, placing her over his shoulder. Kuwabara and Sango then set out back towards the cave as Kouga's followers hoisted their leader between them and began to follow.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Back at the cave, the others were waiting impatiently. There was not one among the group that enjoyed sitting by the wayside while battles were being fought, and the cave had been tensely silent as a result. For a while, Yusuke had tried to busy himself by attempting to get his hair under control, but within minutes he surrendered and let it just hang there in all its mop-like glory. Everyone one else made similar attempts to occupy their minds, but their anxiousness was apparent nonetheless. That was, of course, excluding Kurama and Hiei, with the former being lost deep in thought and the latter sitting stoically in his corner. It was thus fairly surprising when Hiei suddenly rose and began to march towards the entrance to the cave.

"And where are you off to?" queried Kurama nonchalantly, causing Hiei to halt momentarily.

"Hn. Obviously, those fools are not up to the task they were charged with," grunted Hiei with his usual curtness. "Even in my current condition I would have ended this by now."

"Do not be so impatient," advised Kurama calmly. "It is not as if we have someplace we need to rush off to."

"Yeah, and I think it's over anyway," added Kagome. "I'm sensing Kouga's jewel shards heading back this way."

"It's that damned wolf, all right," confirmed Inuyasha gruffly as he sniffed the air subtly. "And everyone else is with him, including Kagura."

A few moments later, Kuwabara, Sango, and the wolf demons passed through the vines and into the cave. Kuwabara set Kagura down on the cavern floor in an isolated location, and Kouga's followers set their leader down by Kagome's bag, where they presumed the medical supplies were located. Meanwhile, Sango walked over to where Kurama sat.

"Kouga was trying to kill her, but we managed to stop him before he could go through with it," reported the demon slayer, adjusting her boomerang to a more comfortable position. "But I'm still not sure that we can use her to find Naraku. He surely has some kind of failsafe for this sort of thing."

"I'm afraid you shall just have to trust me on this matter," replied Kurama before turning to Kagome. "Do you have some kind of rope in that bag of yours, Kagome?"

"Actually, I think I do," Kagome answered, a little surprised with herself.

"Why in the hell would you have rope in your bag?" asked Inuyasha with absolutely no care for politeness.

As usual, this snide remark from Inuyasha sparked an argument between him and Kagome, and, as usual, it ended with Inuyasha's face being smothered against the ground. Meanwhile, Kurama had located the rope and began to tie Kagura up with it. The average observer would notice nothing strange about this, but Hiei's eyesight was far from average. As Kurama finished, he turned to see Hiei staring at him with a raised eyebrow. Reaching into his pants pocket, Kurama pulled out a small pouch and offered it to his slightly confused companion.

"When consumed, the contents of this pouch will kill all pain, and allow you to fight as if you had no injuries at all," stated Kurama in a hushed tone as Hiei accepted the pouch. "However, it will only last for a short time, and when it wears off, the pain will be far greater than it was when you took it, so you must use it carefully"

Hiei stowed away the pouch and stared back at Kurama, then at the still unconscious Kagura, and finally he nodded in comprehension. Without a word, the fire demon turned and exited the cave, clutching the sheath of his katana.

"Say, Kurama," said Yusuke as he walked over to his friend, unaware of the exchange that had just occurred. "Do we really want this crazy chick in here with us?"

"Don't worry Yusuke, I'm about to give her a mixture that will keep her unconscious until dawn tomorrow," assured Kurama as he pulled out another pouch and tilted Kagura's head back so that he could pour the contents of it down her throat.

"What about the wolf demon?" asked Yusuke skeptically. "I bet he'll try and kill her when we're still asleep."

"Good point," conceded the fox demon. "I'll make a second dose of this."

"I could just punch him real hard when he wakes up," Yusuke claimed with a mischievous grin.

"I don't think so. You'll probably give him a concussion," rebuked Kurama, though he still smiled at the suggestion.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Naraku stroked his chin as he stared at the urn that contained Kagura's heart. The situation that he now found himself in was unprecedented, for it was a situation that he was having mixed thoughts about how to deal with. Kagura's heart still showed signs of life, but she had failed to return back to her master. This meant that either she was severely wounded and unable to travel, or she had been captured. However, Naraku suspected it was the latter, and this worried him.

_'I could kill her, right now, and ensure that her or her knowledge cannot be turned against me, but surely she knows this,'_ he thought. _'And if she knows this, then she will surely try and escape to ensure her survival.'_

Clearly, Naraku was at a strategic impasse. On the one hand, he could kill Kagura and guarantee that his location was kept hidden for now, but it would cost him his most valuable servant. On the other hand, he could attempt to free her, and thus save his servant, but should he fail, then his location would be discovered for sure. Naturally, though, where one would normally see two options, Naraku found a third. Combining the two obvious options, he formed his course of action.

_'I shall give her one day to escape on her own, and if she fails to return in that time span, I shall kill her.'_ he decided at last. _'Should she escape, there is a small chance that she will be followed, but if that is the case I will at least have some warning. If she told them where I was, they could attack me at any time from any direction.'_

Finally, he shifted his gaze from the urn. If there was any chance that battle would occur, he would be ready for it. By now, he was fully aware of the strengths and weaknesses of every member of the little unit that had assembled against him. Barring any surprises, he reasoned that he should be able to defeat them. Even so, Naraku was not the type to go into battle without a strategy, and so he began to plan.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Much to the delight of Inuyasha, Kurama did end up having to subdue Kouga by putting the knockout mixture into his water, and by midnight, the entire cave had followed his lead and fallen fast asleep. All was silent as the thin rays of moonlight shone through the spaces in between the vines that covered the cave's entrance. This oddly tranquil scene was the first thing that Kagura saw when she eased her eyes open.

_'I'm…still alive…' _she noticed, rather surprised by this while she blinked to adjust her eyes to the darkness. _'Well, judging by all these lowlifes I'm with in this cave, it looks like I've been captured. But why? Do they seriously think that I will tell them anything at all? Naraku would kill me before I did that.'_

At this point Kagura became even more perplexed. If she had been captured, then why hadn't Naraku killed her?

_'Maybe he is giving me a chance to escape,' _she speculated. _'If that's the case, then I have no time to lose.'_

She fidgeted with the rope that bound her. It was fairly loose. Whoever had tied her up had done a poor job. With a little squirming, she managed to get one had free, and then the other. From there, she quickly untied the rope that was tied around her shins and carefully let the rope slip silently onto the floor. Stealth was not her specialty, but Kagura knew how to be silent when she wanted to. Even the keenest of ears would have a hard time detecting her as she slowly made her way over to the entrance to the cave. The vines posed a slight problem, for she had to go through both silently and quickly enough that extra moonlight did not shine into the cave.

Though this challenge gave her pause for a moment, she managed to find a small gap in the vines that was just large enough for her to slip through, and she hastily exited. She began to move slightly faster now, weaving her way through the forest until she was finally far enough from the cave that running wouldn't stir up a great amount of noise. At that point she burst into a sprint, and kept on sprinting until she was too tired to do so anymore. Leaning against a large tree, she panted for air, now positive that she had reached safety.

However, she heard a rustling in the trees above, and she looked sharply upward, panic flowing from her eyes. That panic quickly gave way to relief, for the rustling was replaced with a soft buzzing, and it was two of Naraku's poisonous insect pets that approached her, not an enemy. One carried a new fan to replace her old one, and the other was clutching two large feathers identical to the ones that Kouga and Kuwabara had destroyed. Smiling, Kagura took the fan and feathers from the insects and, placing one feather in her hair, transformed the other feather into its larger incarnation with a burst of wind. Relieved that her survival was now certain, she almost chuckled as she skimmed the treetops towards Naraku's castle, not wanting to fly to high and attract attention.

Little did she know that attracting attention was a moot point, for on the ground below, she was stealthily being trailed by a certain fire demon. Of course, this was not really her fault. Hiei had reduced his spirit energy to its bare minimum, and, unlike Kagura, he did happen to be an expert on stealth, so not even the local wildlife was aware of his presence. Unaware of her pursuer, Kagura continued on through the night, leading one of her master's greatest enemies straight towards him.


	15. Chapter Fourteen: The Inevitable

**To the readers/reviewers:** I'm terribly sorry it's taking me so long to update lately, but I hopefully will be able to get the next chapter out faster than this one. Once again, I appreciate all the support you guys have been giving me through reading and reviewing my fic, and I sincerely hope that you will continue to do both of those things. But enough of my blabbing, on to the next chapter!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Fourteen: The Inevitable **

Kurama had waited patiently as Kagura had slipped from her bindings and "escaped" out into the night, feigning sleep the whole while. When she had left, however, he still did not stir. The illusion had to be as realistic as possible, and no doubt Naraku would be watching the cave for a short time to make sure it was not a ruse. Demons as with as much cunning as Naraku usually had just as much arrogance, though, so although the cave would be watched, it would only be for a short while, as Naraku would be confident in his success fairly easily. This played right into Kurama's hands, for, as all strategists know, when an advantage presents itself, it should be exploited with all due haste. So it was that after a tedious fifteen minutes of waiting in false slumber, he at last arose and made to stir his comrades.

"Everyone," he announced with a voice just loud enough to begin to wake most of the team. "I'm afraid that the time for rest is now over."

"Wha' is it?" asked Inuyasha sleepily as he rubbed his eyes and looked around before he noticed the pile of ropes sitting on the floor. "What the hell? Kagura's escaped! You said that stuff would keep her asleep until the next morning!"

What few people had remained asleep after Kurama's announcement quickly awakened to Inuyasha's furious bellowing. After waiting long enough for everyone to become aware enough of their surroundings to comprehend what he was about to say, he responded to Inuyasha's accusation.

"Yes, I did say that. I lied," he said simply, and quickly began further explanation before Inuyasha could begin to yell again. "I had to make it seem as if she had actually managed to escape, otherwise I am positive Naraku would have killed her somehow. As Sango said earlier, he likely has a failsafe for such a situation."

"But she got away!" protested Inuyasha, still not putting the pieces together.

"No, I had Hiei follow her. He is sending out a subtle telepathic beacon using his Jagan," elaborated Kurama further. "There is a range limit to that sort of thing, but I believe it won't be a problem."

"Are you sure? He is far faster than any of us," pointed out Miroku as he used his staff to aid him in standing up.

"Yes, I am positive. If Naraku's castle was not close, then Kagura would not have even attempted to escape on foot," replied Kurama. "Tonight, Naraku shall be defeated definitively."

By now, everyone was awake and preparing for the coming battle. Kagome took inventory of her arrows, Kouga slapped himself to try and overcome the effects of the sleeping mixture, and Sango left the cave to go change into her armor. No motivational words were necessary for this particular battle. For many of the caves occupants, their greatest goal was to see to the death of Naraku personally. They were motivated for this day long ago.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

One advantage of the Jagan was that when it needed to be used, it performed its function almost subconsciously. Even though Hiei had to both follow Kagura with the utmost stealth _and_ send out a telepathic beacon so that the others could in turn follow him, he could focus entirely on the former as the Jagan sent out the beacon. Thus far, the wind sorceress had been following a fairly straight path, concerning herself more with speed then subtlety. She had no idea that she was being followed. At last, she changed directions, turning straight towards a large mountain. Hiei had no time to be confused by this, however, for as she approached, the image of the mountain was replaced with a shimmering violet barrier surrounding a small castle.

Sensing what was about to happen, Hiei quickened his pace to close the distance between him and Kagura as a small hole appeared in the barrier for Kagura to pass through. With a final burst of speed and a powerful leap, Hiei hurtled through the hole just as it became too small to pass through. Despite the speed of this maneuver, it had still been too silent for Kagura to notice and she continued to fly towards the castle until she disappeared behind the battlements. The fire demon turned his head slightly to look at the barrier that now had him trapped within Naraku's lair, and with a snort, he quickly made ran towards the castle wall.

In a single leap, he cleared the wall and landed on the other side gracefully, but he felt a sharp pain from his back when he hit the ground. Removing the pouch Kurama had given him from his cloak, he stared at it for a moment.

'_It will likely take a short period to begin affect me,'_ he reasoned, and then dumped the entire contents of the pouch into his mouth and swallowed. _'Besides, it should give me more than enough time to destroy that pathetic Naraku.'_

After a few moments, he cut off the beacon that the Jagan was sending and focused it on scanning the castle grounds for Naraku. Surely, Kurama knew where the beacon was coming from right now, and Hiei needed the Jagan for his own uses now. Detecting a strong demonic presence from the farthest corner of the castle, Hiei leaped up onto the nearest roof top and sped off in that direction. Finally, he halted on a rooftop overlooking the courtyard that housed his prey, and was slightly surprised that it had a very familiar appearance. The figure was clad in a white baboon skin, just as the demon puppet he had encountered earlier. This time, however, the hood was pulled back, revealing the face of a young looking human with an arrogant smirk on his face and a sinister gleam in his eyes.

"Welcome to my humble castle, fire demon," greeted Naraku with mock politeness. "I figured that if any of that worthless group you tag along with would be able to follow Kagura here, it would be you. A shame your talents are wasted on such unworthy allies."

"Hn. They would be equally wasted on such lowly scum as yourself," scoffed Hiei with contempt as he leapt down from the roof and landed in the courtyard in front of Naraku, throwing off his cloak with a flourish. "I have no time to waste on your feeble attempts to draw mercy out of me. You will find such efforts completely futile anyway."

"How sad that someone with three eyes can be so blind," retorted Naraku with a chuckle. "_You_ are the one who ought to be begging, little fool."

Suddenly, Naraku glowed with energy, and his lower body practically exploded as it turned into an enormous mass of tentacles and various demon appendages. Even Hiei found the jumbled collection of demon parts disgusting as they writhed and pulsed below the upper body of Naraku, which, oddly enough, remained totally unchanged. As he unsheathed his sword, though, Hiei noticed something far more important. In Naraku's stomach, the Jagan saw the very reason Hiei was fighting Naraku in the first place: the vast majority of the Shikon Jewel.

Knowing that being forced on the defensive would lead to his immediate downfall, Hiei leapt towards Naraku with speed that even he found surprising. Naraku responded quickly, though, for the power of the Shikon Jewel was on his side. He lashed out with several tentacles to slow Hiei's attack while at the same time dodging to the left and out of harms way. The maneuver cost him two tentacles, which were sliced into several pieces by Hiei, but it gave him superior position, as Hiei now had his back exposed. Sensing victory, he sent a swarm of tentacles towards Hiei, intending to impale him. However, much to Naraku's dismay, Hiei disappeared right before the attack could reach him, and suddenly reappeared on Naraku's left flank.

'_This pain-killer Kurama gave me is incredible,'_ thought Hiei with what was as close to elation as he had felt in a long time. _'I feel almost stronger than I was before I fought Youko.'_

With a roar, Hiei allowed his spirit energy to soar to its maximum in a single instant, causing a glowing red aura to burst to life around him. Now certain of his imminent victory, Hiei once again charged his enemy with his sword raised.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

After everyone had finished their hasty battle preparations, Kurama and the others had set off after Hiei at top speed. Inuyasha was carrying Kagome on his back, who in turn had Shippou clutching onto her shoulder as the half-demon sprinted beside Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kouga and Kurama while Sango and Miroku, whose ankle was still not fully recovered, soared above them on Kirara.

"How much further, Kurama?" demanded Inuyasha, eager to kill Naraku as quickly as possible.

"Not much further," assured the fox demon. "His single is coming from just a short while ahead."

In truth, Hiei had stopped sending the signal a good twenty minutes ago. Kurama knew that this was no cause for alarm, but he also knew that telling his comrades this would cause an unnecessary panic, and that was the last thing they needed. After a couple more minutes of running in silence, all doubts about where they were going disappeared. What had appeared to be a large mountain ahead of them slowly changed form, and now took on the shape of Naraku's castle, surrounded by a pulsing violet barrier.

"I'll take care of this," announced Inuyasha as they approached the barrier.

He unsheathed his seemingly normal katana, and, as usual, it glowed violently and transformed into the massive falchion style sword that was the Tetsusaiga. This time, however, it did not stop there. After it had transformed, it seemed to pulse as its energy underwent an odd change, and the blade's color slowly changed from dulled silver to a bloodlike crimson. With Kagome and Shippou still hanging off of his back, he took his mighty sword in both hands and leapt forward towards the barrier. When he was within striking distance, he swung the Tetsusaiga furiously at the barrier, and, amazingly, the sword passed through with incredible ease, and the barrier began to disintegrate.

"Let us down before you do that next time, Inuyasha!" chided Kagome while detaching herself from the now grounded half-demon's back.

Within moments, everyone had come to a halt by Inuyasha's location and gazed towards Naraku's castle. It was still a small distance off, but everyone knew that this was likely the last chance they would have to catch their breaths before the battle. Kouga's followers in particular, who arrived a few moments after the others, were particularly appreciative of the stoppage.

"Someone's coming…" said Kuwabara, indicating two figures riding on a large object and the platoon of lesser demons that was following them.

"Kagura…" growled Kouga in confirmation, hatred pouring out of his every pore as he spoke the name of his hated enemy.

"You handle them," ordered Kurama as he suddenly leapt onto Kirara's back behind Miroku. "We'll aid Hiei in holding off Naraku until you arrive. Sango, take us towards the castle."

"Wait…but that's Kohaku!" she protested after looking closely at the second figure on Kagura's feather as it came near.

"He'll be fine," insisted Kurama quickly. "But if we don't hurry, we may not be able to say the same for Hiei. He has been fighting Naraku by himself for longer than I had hoped already."

With just a slight hesitation, Sango gave in and urged Kirara towards Naraku's castle. Kagura and her demons, either unwilling or unable to stop them, simply allowed the demonic feline and her passengers to pass by as they closed on the others. Instead, Kagura focused upon the grounded members of the party, and unleashed a torrent of her signature energy blades down upon them as her demons began to dive in a follow up attack. The battle for the Shikon Jewel had now begun in earnest.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

HH

Hiei dodged a tentacle, cut another into several pieces, and then leaped out of the way as a dozen more came flying towards him. The battle had been going on like this for some time, and while Hiei could feel no pain while under the influence of the mixture Kurama had given him, he _did_ feel fatigue. This would always be a bad thing, but what made it worse was that he had been unable to do any real damage to Naraku. True, he had cut many of his tentacles to bits, but he had soon realized that the bits of flesh he had cut from the demon simply oozed back to him and repaired all the damage his sword had done. Up to this point, it hadn't mattered, as Hiei had avoided receiving any damage himself, but now the fatigue he was now feeling was not reflected upon Naraku. Hiei was losing.

"What's the matter? Feeling a little winded, little demon?" taunted Naraku as he lashed out with his tentacles once more.

Hiei rolled, slashed, and leaped his way through the tentacles that now threatened to engulf him, but, as was the pattern for this battle, he emerged unscathed. However, this time, something slightly different happened. As he landed with his back to the castle wall and his front to his foe, he felt a sharp pain from his back.

'_Pain? That means…Kurama's pain killer…it's wearing off!'_ he realized with alarm.

Indeed, even as he thought this, his entire body began to feel slightly sore, and the pain in his back was slowly intensifying. Indeed, Kurama's mixture was wearing off, and quickly. Panic began to consume Hiei. If he wasn't able to beat Naraku while unable to feel pain, he would stand no chance if he began to feel it in droves. It was time to take desperate measures.

Leaping away from yet another tentacle attack, Hiei sheathed his sword and quickly tore away the bandages that covered his right arm, and pointed his right fist towards Naraku. With his free hand, he removed the headband that covered the Jagan Eye, and it glowed brightly in response. Black flames began to swirl around his right arm as all the energy that remained within him was summoned to unleash the terrible monstrosity known as the Dragon of the Darkness Flame. At last, the attack was ready, and he opened his mouth to call it forth, but no words came out. Instead, he let loose a short cry of pain.

The black flames around his right arm had vanished, and the Jagan no longer glowed with power. For, while Hiei had been preparing for his attack, Naraku had sent a tentacle underground to get behind the fire demon. Naraku had succeeded, and just as Hiei was prepared to unleash his attack, the tentacle had exploded upwards from the earth behind him and immediately changed course, impaling him through his right shoulder. To make matters worse, Kurama's mixture had now faded completely, and just as the fox demon had said, Hiei was feeling far more pain than he usually would from the attack.

"You fool, you can't possibly defeat me," jeered Naraku, smirking triumphantly. "All I had to do was see you use that pathetic dragon once, and I knew exactly how to defeat it."

Even with the incredible pain coursing through his body, Hiei was unable to accept defeat. Tearing himself free of the tentacle that was piercing him, he lunged at Naraku with all the might he had left, but it was not enough. He managed to avoid being pierced through the heart with another tentacle by spinning out of the way, but he was unable to avoid the second one, which swung horizontally into him with incredible force, slamming him into the castle wall. He tried to stand after he hit the ground, but he was again slammed into the wall by a swinging tentacle. This happened three more times, and at last Hiei crumpled onto the ground unconscious.

The force of Naraku's blows was so great, however, that the wall above Hiei had begun to collapse, and an avalanche of stone began to fall towards Hiei. Fortunately, it was at this precise time that Kirara and her passengers arrived at the scene. Seeing Hiei's predicament, Sango jumped down off of her mount and rushed towards Hiei. As she approached, she realized that she was not fast enough to carry him to safety, and instead she hefted her boomerang and chose a most daring course of action. Placing one end of the boomerang firmly against the remaining castle wall, and the other end equally as firmly against the ground, she formed a kind of triangle with the boomerang, the ground, and the wall. Then, pulling Hiei under the safety of the boomerang, she kneeled down and braced her back against the weapon just before the stones began to fall.

"Sango!" cried out Miroku in horror from atop Kirara as the stone avalanche collided with Sango's boomerang.

While Sango held firm and thus managed to avoid being crushed by the avalanche directly, the amount of stone that was falling was great enough that it soon had engulfed her, Hiei, and the boomerang beneath it. All that could be seen was a large pile of rubble, leaning against the remainder of Naraku's castle wall.

"Sango! Hold on!" yelled Miroku as Kirara touched down on the ground and he and Kurama dismounted. "I'll get you out!"

Miroku began to undo the prayer beads that sealed his Wind Tunnel, presumably to remove the rocks that trapped Sango and Hiei, but stopped immediately when a swarm of large, wasp-like insects appeared out of every nook and cranny in the courtyard.

"I'm afraid you will be doing no such thing, monk," taunted Naraku as he turned his gaze upon the newcomers. "Besides, she has been crushed to death anyway. I doubt it would make you happy to see her bloody remains."

"He's lying," interjected Kurama quickly, placing an arm on Miroku's shoulder to restrain him from any rash action. "They are both alive. We can free them after we have beaten him, but for now, we must remain focused."

Miroku nodded in understanding, and took a deep breath to calm himself as Kurama removed a rose from his hair and transformed it into his Rose Whip. With a roar from Kirara, the trio charged Naraku.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Back outside the castle, the rest of the group was doing battle with the lesser demons. In addition to the initial group that had flown out with Kagura and Kohaku, there had been a second wave that came on the ground, and it was taking much longer than any of them had hoped the eliminate them and move on.

"Damnit! If only that kid weren't with her," cursed Inuyasha as he cut another demon in two. "If he wasn't, I could use my Wind Scar."

"All right, I'll take care of it," replied Yusuke, and rushed into the oncoming horde of demons, punching anything that got in his way.

When he had gotten close enough to Kagura, he pointed his fist up towards Kagura on top of her feather. With a cry of "Shotgun!" he sent a barrage of blue energy bolts cascading towards her and Kohaku, who was still sitting on the feather with her. Kagura had been caught of guard, so she was immediately hit and sent tumbling off of her feather towards the earth. Kohaku, however, had not been so easily surprised, and he managed to leap out of the way, whipping his chain scythe at Yusuke as he landed gracefully on the ground. This was just what Yusuke wanted, however, and he dodged the scythe while grabbing hold of the chain it was attached to and tugging hard. Kohaku, still holding onto the other end of the chain, was picked up off his feet and went flying through the air into the waiting arms of Yusuke, who quickly knocked him out with a sharp jab to the head and sprinted out of the crowd of demons.

"I got the kid, waste 'em!" yelled Yusuke back at Inuyasha.

"All right!" said Inuyasha, raising the Tetsusaiga, now covered in small whirlwinds, above his head. "Wind Scar!"

With that, he brought the massive sword down in a powerful swing, and a huge wave of yellow energy was sent tearing through the remaining lesser demons and straight towards Kagura, who now found herself grounded. However, she merely smiled and leapt backwards, revealing Kana standing behind her with her mirror outstretched. Stunned, Inuyasha could just stare in horror as his attack was launched right back at him and his companions, with seemingly no way to stop it.

At the last possible moment, though, Kuwabara jumped in front of the attack, his feet squared and his arms held out to his sides to block it. The energy wave slammed into his chest with what looked like the force of a train, but Kuwabara gave a grunt of effort and he pushed back hard. He was slowly being pushed backwards by the reflected attack, but that seemed inconsequential relative to the amount of energy that was hammering into him. The sleeves of his trench-coat were quickly disintegrated, causing it to be blown away by the wind, and for several tense moments it looked as his entire upper body would suffer the same fate. However, after a few more seconds, there was a bright flash and the attack dissipated, leaving Kuwabara standing there with steam pouring off of his body. He tried to stumble forward, but had walked no more than three steps before he collapsed upon the ground.

Saying so many swear words he likely repeated himself several times, Yusuke dropped Kohaku and rushed to the side of his fallen friend. Kana had taken a few steps forward and was going to attempt to suck out the souls of the two boys, but fortunately, Kagome remained alert and fired a glowing pink arrow straight into Kana's mirror, shattering it. Yusuke looked up at the sound, and, upon catching sight of Kana, threw a nearby rock at her as he spewed another round of curses, mostly along the lines of "stupid albino bitch". To his satisfaction, Kana, who had never been much of a fighter, was unable to get out of the way and was knocked unconscious by the projectile.

Seeing that her odds of survival were grim should she stay any longer, Kagura quickly removed a feather from her hair and with a burst of wind had taken flight off towards the east.

"Oh no you don't!" cried Kouga with rage, and began what seemed like a futile pursuit of his nemsis.

"Wait! Kouga!" yelled Kagome in vain after the wolf demon as his two followers and their pack of wolves began to give chase to their leader. "Oh well…"

With a sigh, she walked over to the others, who had gathered around Kuwabara. Whether he was unconscious was hard to say, mostly because Yusuke was yelling at him.

"Come on Kuwabara, get up!" demanded Yusuke down at his friend, shaking him enthusiastically. "At least say something!"

"Damn it…stop…yelling…Urameshi," muttered Kuwabara, though he didn't move at all as he spoke. "I'm just…just a little tired. Lemme ge' some rest…jus' a little…"

"I think he's fine," concluded Inuyasha after Kuwabara had lost consciousness. "He just used up a lot of energy stopping that attack."

"Yeah…" agreed Yusuke, finally getting up off of his knees. "Kagome and the midget should stick with him just in case though."

"I am not a midget!" denied Shippou indignantly with great vigor.

"You are _not_ leaving me behind _again_!" demanded Kagome almost simultaneously, but with even greater vigor. "If you do, I will _never_ forgive you, Inuyasha!"

"All right, all right," surrendered Inuyasha hastily. "You can come, Kagome, but Shippou, you have to stay and make sure Kuwabara is ok."

Shippou began to mutter some unflattering things about Inuyasha's intelligence under his breathe, but sat down and resigned himself to his job nonetheless. Not wanting to waste any more time, Kagome jumped onto Inuyasha's back, and without further delay, the trio was making their way towards Naraku's castle wall as fast as possible.


	16. Chapter Fifteen: The Impending End

**To the readers/reviewers:** This is not a mirage, it is a real, honest to goodness update that you see on your computer screens. So stop slapping yourselves, that can't be healthy. Self inflicted slapping aside, I truly appreciate the continued support that you folks are giving this fic both by reading this and by giving your critiques and praises through reviews. Now, prepare yourselves for another eye-damaging session of black text against a white background (well done, oh briliant webmasters) because here comes the next chapter!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Fifteen: The Impending End **

Kurama could not help feel guilty about the current situation. He had known all along that Hiei had no true chance at defeating Naraku on his own, though he had hoped his unparalleled speed would allow him to last long enough to safely move to the sidelines when help had arrived. Unfortunately, Kurama had underestimated the time it would take to catch up to Hiei, and it had been a mistake that had put both Hiei and Sango in mortal peril, leaving them trapped under a pile of rubble. This proved doubly detrimental, as without Sango in the fight, Naraku would be more likely to pick off Miroku, who had lost most of his usual agility due to his ankle injury.

Indeed, in the short while that Kurama, Miroku and Kirara had been fighting Naraku, Kurama had been forced to save Miroku from a potentially fatal blow several times with his whip, though he had not spared the monk completely from injury. In fact, Miroku was looking quite weary and battered, as was Kirara, and Kurama knew that this all stemmed from him not urging the group to Naraku's castle fast enough. The situation would have Kurama overwhelmed with guilt if it weren't for the fact that he still knew that they would win in the end. Of this, he was absolutely certain.

"Miroku, if you become too injured or tired to continue effectively, then you should retreat to safety," advised Kurama calmly as he unleashed his whip upon another wave of tentacles. "I will be able to hold out on my own until the others arrive."

"I can manage," Miroku replied, though his tone lacked the confidence of his words as he dodged and parried Naraku's attacks with visible effort. "I have a far greater reason for seeing Naraku dead than you do."

Unfortunately, Miroku was forced to concentrate on simply avoiding and countering Naraku's strikes so much that he failed to realize that he was slowly getting farther away from Kurama as he dodged, until eventually he was outside the range of Kurama's Rose Whip. Kurama was also distracted, having focused himself on cutting through Naraku's defenses so he could get a clean attack at his torso, which appeared to be his weak-point, and Kirara, though a fierce opponent in her own right, simply lacked the grasp of strategy to realize what was going on. With Miroku now isolated, Naraku shifted the majority of his appendages to the task of eliminating the monk, and it was only at this point that Kurama noticed the ploy.

Desperately, Miroku used all of his remaining strength to hold off Naraku's barrage, swinging his staff in huge, sweeping strokes as if he was cutting his way through a dense jungle with unusual urgency. This only protected him for a few moments, for the tentacles were too vast in number, and as they closed in on him for the killing blow, he dropped into a meditative position and erected a shield on energy around himself. Having noticed Naraku's plan and witnessed Miroku's last ditch attempt at protection, Kurama hurtled himself through the air towards the monk with his whip flashing about him as he spun through the air and hewing away the tentacles that threatened his ally. By the time Kurama had landed between Miroku and Naraku, all the tentacles that had been attacking the monk were now in pieces upon the ground and oozing bock to their master to reform.

Seeing that the threat had passed for the moment, Miroku lowered his protective shield of energy and used his staff to raise himself slowly off of the ground.

"It would be wise for you to retreat now, Miroku," suggested Kurama once more. "I can sense that you're drained, and there may not be many more opportunities for you to pull out."

For a moment, Miroku just gritted his teeth in frustration, but after a moment he let out a resigned sigh.

"You are correct, of course. I have given all that I can," he agreed, with all the enthusiasm of an athlete being relegated to the bench in an important contest. "Kirara, I'm going to need you to carry me out of here."

Though Miroku had called out to the giant twin tailed cat as if it needed specific instructions, it was clear that Kirara had already attained a decent understanding of his situation, as it had already abandoned its fight with several of Naraku's tentacles to come to his side. Miroku quickly clambered onto Kirara's back, and in an instant they were in the air, flying off a safe distance away and then landing on the castle ramparts so that they could observe the fight safely.

Meanwhile Naraku had regenerated all of his limbs, and, seeing that another pair of his opponents had been removed from action, he did not hesitate to press the advantage. His patchwork collection of appendages was soon bearing down upon Kurama with full force. Kurama, however, remained unscathed, whirling his whip around himself so fast that it seemed to create a deadly shield, hacking apart Naraku's tentacles so that they fell in pieces upon the ground. As the bits of these tentacles oozed back towards his body, Naraku gave pause and smirked.

"It is rare that I have an opponent who has any knowledge whatsoever of strategy," he said with an exhilarated glint in his eye. "Even now, you focus on merely defending yourself so that you can conserve energy for when your allies arrive. No doubt, it was your plan that lead this band of garbage to my doorstep. I feel almost a hint of regret that I have to kill my most capable enemy to date."

"Rest assured, the feeling is not mutual," replied Kurama with unfaltering calm. "I will feel absolutely no regret as I tear you from the mortal coil."

With nothing further to be said, Naraku renewed his attack upon Kurama, but he met the same result. Several times more he tried; even sending several tentacles underground to try and attack Kurama, but the fox demon was spinning his whip so tightly to his body that all he needed to do was move slightly to the side and the tentacles burst from the earth and straight in the deadly pattern of his Rose Whip. Naraku was trying to think of a way to penetrate his adversary's tight defenses when suddenly, a new voice came from the rooftop to his rear.

"So, you're Naraku, huh? I knew you were a freak, but you're still one hell of a lot uglier than I expected," taunted Yusuke from the rooftop, with Inuyasha and letting Kagome down several feet to his left. "Well, I guess it won't matter how ugly you are when you're dead!"

His pre-brawl insult now complete, Yusuke leapt from the roof top towards Naraku, fists set in position to strike. He was followed momentarily by Inuyasha, who drew his sword as he drew near to his hated enemy, and Kagome notched an arrow into her bow back on the roof, waiting for the opportune moment to let it fly. For the first time since his fight with Hiei, Naraku was now forced to actually move his body to avoid an attack, for Yusuke and Inuyasha were quickly joined by Kurama in their assault. He just barely managed to avoid one of Kagome's sacred arrows as he lashed out at Yusuke, Inuyasha, and Kurama simultaneously with his tentacles, only to have them smashed, sliced, and hewn respectively.

What now began was like a deadly game of tag, with Naraku darting to and fro throughout the courtyard as he staved the three warriors of with his tentacles, all the while attempting to avoid Kagome's arrows that flew down towards him from time to time. Soon though, it was clear that he was overmatched. With the brutal power of Yusuke's martial might and Inuyasha's furious storm of cuts from Tetsusaiga added to Kurama's elegant maneuvering with his rose whip, he was beginning to lose limbs faster than he could regenerate them. As one of Kagome's arrows finally found its mark and tore through several tentacles, it finally dawned on Naraku. He was going to lose.

Naraku, however, had not lived this long without being able to differ a time to fight from a time to flee, and now was clearly the latter. A purple smoke suddenly began to appear and surround his body, and he started to rise into the night sky in full retreat.

"If you think you can run away then just think again, freak-show!" yelled Yusuke furiously, and with all his might, he launched himself into the air after Naraku.

To the amazement of everyone present, Yusuke was somehow closing in on Naraku, and it was obvious that he was going to reach his target before the demon could escape. Naraku's eyes were wide with dismay as Yusuke closed to within feat of him, and then shot his right hand forward in an open palm strike to the abdominal region. Yusuke's hand tore through Naraku's side like a sledgehammer through a sheet of paper, and, as a disgusting side effect, Yusuke was left clutching a chunk of Naraku's flesh in his hand. However, although Naraku was now at least ten pounds lighter and had what looked like a gigantic bite taken out of the lower right side of his torso, the blow was not enough to take him out of the air. With a final laugh of triumph, the purple miasma swirled about Naraku's body, and then he had vanished.

For a moment, the castle was completely silent, save the soft sound of Yusuke landing on the ground. Then Inuyasha slammed the Tetsusaiga into the ground with a loud crash and let out a furious yell of frustration.

"NO! HE GOT AWAY! AGAIN!" he cried with such rage that it nearly made Kagome slip and fall off of her rooftop perch. "EVERYTIME I HAVE THE CHANCE TO KILL THAT WORM, HE GETS AWAY! WHY? WHY WON'T THAT BASTARD JUST DIE?"

"Quit yelling, that freak'll get what's comin' to him don't worry," said Yusuke with a confident chuckle. "Yup, you can take him out any time you want now."

"Oh yeah? And just what in the hell has you so happy?" Inuyasha snapped back, though it appeared he had managed to regain control over much of his anger. "In case ya' didn't notice, you _missed_, punk! Naraku got away!"

"Yeah, he got away," admitted Yusuke as he peeled away the rest of Naraku's flesh away from his hand, and then held forth most of a partially whole, glowing, purple jewel. "But I _didn't_ miss."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

After the avalanche of stone that had formerly been a part of Naraku's castle wall had collapsed down upon Sango and Hiei under the protection of Sango's boomerang, Sango initially had to take a moment to figure out what to do next. Admittedly, she hadn't really thought that far beyond simply protecting Hiei from what was certain to be a most painful and gruesome demise.

'_Well…I suppose that was a little rash of me,'_ she had admitted as she carefully stopped leaning her back against her boomerang. _'But I had to something. I couldn't just sit and watch him die.'_

Amazingly, the boomerang had held firm in its protective position, now lodged there between all the stone debris. Hiraikotsu was no Tetsusaiga, but it was a well made weapon, and no mere stone would be enough to break it. This had left Sango and Hiei enclosed in a small cave of sorts; a cave without any openings.

'_Right! I had better make some holes for air to get through,'_ Sango had realized, and then pried the sword she had given Hiei from the demon's hand. _'It's actually amazing that he was able to hold onto it while getting beaten like that.'_

She had worked quickly but cautiously in poking to sword through the rubble until she had created half a dozen air holes so that they could breathe. This had left her with just one more problem, and it had been unconscious and bleeding profusely in front of her. As fortune would have it, her sash was enough to temporarily bandage the massive wound on the fire demon's shoulder wound to stop the blood loss, but even when it had been applied, Sango had still been fearful that Hiei was in dire straights. She could not help but notice how fragile he had looked, with a pained expression frozen on his unconscious face as he lay huddled at her feet. Each breath he took had sounded raspy and weak, and Sango pulled him a little closer to her.

"I'm not going to let you die," she had said aloud, and then slightly quieter. "I'm not going to let Naraku take anyone else."

As the battle raged outside, Sango listened to its muffled sounds, but she continued to look at the fire demon in front of her as he struggled for life. At long last, the sounds of battle vanished, which was a good thing in that Sango and Hiei would soon be freed from their stone prison. However, they were soon replaced with the unmistakable sounds of a furious Inuyasha, which was bad in that it meant Naraku had escaped. After a short while, Sango again heard Inuyasha's voice, though this time it was from much closer.

"Sango, if you can hear me, brace yourself. I'm gonna' get rid of these rocks."

Suddenly, the stone that had held Sango and Hiei captive crumbled as Inuyasha began to tear his claws into it. Within moments, all that remained was some small, scattered pieces of ruble and Sango was able to finally stand, picking up her boomerang in the process.

"Sango, are you all right?" Miroku asked worriedly as Kirara touched down on the ground with him on her back.

"Yes, I'm fine," replied Sango as she stretched out her shoulders before motioning down to Hiei. "I'm not sure how he is, though. I managed to stop his bleeding, but he lost a lot of blood before I did."

"Judging from his spirit energy level, he'll be just fine," said Kurama as he kneeled down next to his friend and examined the makeshift bandage on his shoulder. "He's actually in better shape than he was after the fight with Youko. It only seems worse because the pain he is experiencing is amplified due to a side affect of a strong painkiller I gave him. In fact, aside from this shoulder wound, the only other injuries he has appear to be an amount of bruises, though I'm sure the fight has left him exhausted as well."

"Yeah, Hiei's taken a lot worse beatings then this. I should know. I gave him one," seconded Yusuke as he walked over, still holding the partial Shikon Jewel in his right hand.

"Wait, you got the Shikon Jewel?" exclaimed Sango with more than a little surprise. "Than does that mean Naraku is…?"

"No, 'fraid the son of a bitch got away," Yusuke answered, shaking his head. "But don't worry, that guy should be a piece of cake without this thing, and we're gonna' take it to a place where he can't get his filthy hands on it. Well, filthy tentacle-things, actually."

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions," cut in Kurama. "But we can answer those later. Right now we should go find a place to make camp."

"Why can't we just use this castle?" inquired Inuyasha. "Since it's still here, this one might actually be real."

"That may just be due to the Shikon Jewel still being here," interjected Miroku. "Besides, it seems unadvisable to stay in a place that perhaps the most truly evil demon currently in existence has made his home."

"Good point, let's avoid sleeping in the haunted castle," concurred Yusuke. "I don't even want to _think_ about what kinds of surprises a freak like that leaves in the bathroom."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

The sun began to sow itself of the horizon as the victorious group finished setting up camp in the forest a good distance away from Naraku's castle. Of course, setting up camp merely consisted of finding some makeshift seats and waiting for Kirara and Sango to return from the cave they had been staying in with any belongings they had left behind, but the lack of work just put everyone in even higher spirits. Well, everyone except Inuyasha, who had seemed very conflicted about the most recent turn of events. Seeing as Inuyasha sulked very frequently, hardly anyone seemed to pay any mind, though.

"Hey, Kuwabara, I think it's about time we demand that the little toddler give us some cash for all our hard work, don't you?" said Yusuke as he examined the nearly complete Shikon Jewel in his hand, which had been combined with the five shards Kagome had been acquired. "I mean, we deserve _something_ from this mission, right?"

"Yeah, but Koenma would never give us anything, Urameshi," replied Kuwabara with a grin. "Hell, the little guy hardly even gives us a vacation."

At this moment, Kirara and Sango returned to the camp, carrying with them all the items that had been left behind, including Kagome's bag, which Yusuke and Kuwabara immediately dived for and began to tussle over a large bag of potato chips.

"I don't suppose we're going to have much food left after they get through with it, are we?" commented Sango as she dismounted and sat herself down in between Kurama and Miroku on one of the logs/benches they had set up.

"Well, we won't be needing it for much longer," Kurama responded as he watched Yusuke and Kuwabara continue to wage war over the food with mild amusement. "We'll head back to Kaede's village for a final night of recuperation, and then it will be time for my colleagues and I to head back to our own time."

"Just how will you be getting back?" queried Miroku curiously. "You can't use Kagome's well, from what I understand."

"Correct. There is a temple some twenty miles outside of Kaede's village where we will be able to open a portal," answered the fox demon, then motioning towards Kagome with his head. "We will, however, need Kagome to aid us in opening the portal, so all of you may as well come to see us off. Unless, of course, you are glad to see such troublemakers leave."

Miroku and Sango both chuckled at Kurama's jest, but Kurama was quick to note that Sango seemed only to do so halfheartedly.

"Judging by his absence, I'll assume Hiei's feeling all right," ventured Sango as she glanced around the camp to make sure she hadn't missed him.

"Yes, he regained consciousness shortly after you left," Kurama confirmed with a nod. "Though, he didn't go very far. I'm sensing him just a short walk east of here."

"You'd think that he'd be able to stand being in our presence by now," remarked Miroku with just a subtle sting to his words.

"Well, he is certainly a lone wolf if there ever was one," said Sango, not catching Miroku's hostile tone as she rose out of her seat. "Well, I'm going to go change out of this armor. Oh, and I will be keeping several large rocks within arms reach in case I have any unwanted observers."

She shot Miroku a knowing glare, which he countered with his playful "I wouldn't dream of it" grin as he rubbed the back of his head. As Sango disappeared from sight into the forest, however, the goofy expression quickly slid from his face and he began to stare at the ground and fiddle with his staff, as though contemplating a serious matter. Kurama didn't ask the monk what was on his mind, not only because he knew the response would not be sincere, but also because he had a very good idea of what the topic of contemplation might be. Of all the things Kurama had observed during his time in the feudal era of Japan, this situation unfolding in front of him had been the one thing he hadn't quite expected, and, to make maters more complex, he had no clear idea as to how it would be concluded. With merely a few days of traveling left before the Spirit Detectives would be returning to their own time, however, he was bound to find out.


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Letting Go

**To the readers/reviewers:** Well, thanks for your continued support by reading and reviewing my fic. I really have very little to say, so I'll spare you some annoying drabble about my cat (which I don't have, strangely enough) and just get to the good stuff. Next chapter, hooooooooooo!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Sixteen: Letting Go**

For the next several days as the victorious troupe underwent the long journey back to Kaede's village, everyone was in the highest of spirits. The usual suspects, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Inuyasha, had even seemed to declare an unspoken truce, and had managed to avoid any large scale arguments, although a minor back and forth had erupted over the last bag of potato chips. Even with that, though, this was easily the friendliest terms everyone had been on with one another since the Spirit Detectives had first arrived, although Hiei maintained his usual silent scowling. As they came in sight of their destination, though, all banter slowly came to a halt. It had suddenly hit everyone that the Spirit Detectives would soon be leaving, for they now had over ninety percent of the Shikon Jewel in their possession.

"Well, we seemed to have arrived at a good time," commented Kurama, looking towards the sky as they approached the village. "The sun will be setting in a little over an hour, so we can stay here for the night. This way, you'll be able to go restock on your supplies, Kagome."

"Yeah..." replied Kagome without much enthusiasm before suddenly brightening as a new thought entered her mind. "Hey, wait a second! I just got an idea!"

"Care to enlighten the rest of us?" Yusuke asked impatiently, having many experiences of the ideas schoolgirls got from Keiko.

"Well, I was thinking that when I go back home, I could bring back a big dinner," she answered, clearly excited with the idea. "You know, a big feast before you guys leave tomorrow."

"Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" exclaimed Kuwabara, who was still starving after failing to oust Yusuke and Inuyasha in their pitched battle for the potato chips earlier. "Don't forget to bring some sodas, too. I'm kinda' sick of water."

"Yeah, and bring me one of those lolipopper things!" chimed in Shippou.

"And beer!" suggested Yusuke before Kuwabara smacked him in the back of the head. "Oh come on, I was just joking."

A plethora of suggestions and demands began to rain down on Kagome, and in response she quickly mounted her bicycle and peddled off in the direction of the well, partially regretting her decision. By now, the group had essentially reached the village, and everyone scattered, each on their own agenda. Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha headed over to Kaede's hut to say hello, although Miroku was most likely simply following Sango and Inuyasha was just trying to pass the time. Kurama had decided to take this last chance to inspect the unique plant life in the area, and Shippou decided to follow him since he had attained near worship status in the young fox demon's eyes. As for Hiei, he disappeared to…well, probably just to brood in some tree somewhere as he really never had anything to do if there wasn't something that required killing. This left Kuwabara and Yusuke wandering aimlessly around the village without the slightest idea of what to do with themselves until dinner.

"How long d'ya think we've been here Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked after a few minutes of wandering.

"Dunno, a couple of weeks or something like that. I haven't really been counting the days," answered Yusuke, as he looked around at all the villagers gawking at them. "By the way, you might want to get a shirt. People are starting to stare."

Kuwabara just grunted in response. He had made it fairly clear after the battle with Naraku that he deeply lamented the loss of his white trench-coat, despite Yusuke's constant mocking of the rather unmanly coloring of the writing on it. Of course, a shirtless man in a farming village wasn't exactly an uncommon sight, so it was far more likely that it was the general appearance of the duo that attracting the stares. Though Kuwabara had decided on a poor solution to the problem, he had been right at the start of the mission when he said they would look strange with their modern clothes in feudal Japan. After a few more minutes of silent walking, the pair had finally left the more crowded part of the village, and the gawking at last ceased.

"Hey, Urameshi," began Kuwabara, breaking the silence. "You miss home at all?"

"Not really, what's there to miss?" replied Yusuke flippantly as he lazily kicked a small rock out of his path.

"I dunno, aren't you and Keiko sorta' serious now?" questioned Kuwabara, looking equally lazy as he sauntered along.

"Well, yeah…" answered Yusuke truthfully, holding back a wince as he thought about what Keiko would say about him being gone so long. "But other than that…you know I don't miss much else. Maybe the arcade a little, but really, it 'aint bad here."

"Yeah, it's all right," agreed Kuwabara. "But I still miss a lot. You know my gang, my sister and stuff."

"And your precious little Yukina, right?" taunted Yusuke with a smirk, who wasn't nearly lazy enough to miss a chance at making fun of Kuwabara's melodramatic obsession with said ice demon.

"Yukina and I have a special bond of love, and don't you dare try and make fun of it, Urameshi!" retorted Kuwabara angrily.

Not surprisingly, the two boys were soon locked in a verbal struggle for insult domination. Also not surprisingly, it took under a minute for them to forget what it was they were arguing about in the first place.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Kagome had promised a feast for dinner, and she did not fail to meet expectations. In fact, she had brought back so much food that she was unable to carry it out of the well on her own, and had to yell for several minutes until Inuyasha heard her and came to her aid. By the time they had carried everything down to Kaede's hut, which the old priestess had politely vacated for the night, which made Kagome suspicious that a certain pair of Spirit Detectives had heard her, but had chose to ignore her out of amusement. Surprisingly, Hiei showed up just as they began distributing the food.

"Too late shrimp, I already got dibs on all the good stuff," stated Kuwabara as he began to stuff his face with anything edible in front of him.

"It appears that the humans in this region have driven out anything worth hunting at all," he said, totally ignoring Kuwabara as he sat down

"We get it, you don't actually _like_ hanging around us, because if you did, it would ruin your tough loner image," said Sango dismissively. "Now shut up and eat."

Hiei's eye narrowed and he let out a small growl of irritation at this, but after a moment of glaring death at the demon slayer, he snorted with his usual "hn" sound and helped himself to a small portion of meat.

The rest of the meal followed in picture perfect fashion. It had taken about two minutes for Yusuke, Kuwabara and Inuyasha to be engrossed in their usual oh-so-intelligent banter, the subject now being on the level of "coolness" possessed by cats, and subsequently those who liked cats. Hiei, who Sango had now opened the floor on, was soon the subject of several jokes made by her, Kurama, and Kagome with Shippou throwing in another impression of the fire demon for good measure. Death threats were numerous and universal.

When it had been deemed unsafe to continue to prod the fire demon further, the subject had changed to Kurama's love life, or rather his surprising lack of one. This had caused two people in the room to suddenly become incredibly uncomfortable, Kurama, whose face had turned a light shade of red due to being the subject of such a personal inquiry, and Inuyasha, who had demanded to know why they were discussing this subject, seeing as Kagome had initiated its discussion. Maybe it was topic of discussion, but for some reason, Miroku had thought that this was the opportune moment to try and grope Sango's butt. He would not only be proven wrong, but also have several rice balls slammed harshly into his face as punishment for his trespasses. All in all, the meal provided a perfect snapshot of each member of the group, which had been exactly what Kagome had hoped for when she suggested the idea.

Eventually, though, there was no food left to be eaten, and the feast had come to an end. By the time everything had been cleaned up, some, such as Kuwabara and Shippou, had already fallen asleep, for the meal had lasted far into the night. When the last plate and the last pair of chopsticks had been cleared, Kagome stepped outside, where she found Inuyasha leaning against the wall of the hut, looking as though he was deep in thought as he looked up into the heavens.

"Thinking about anything in particular?" asked Kagome as she sat herself down next to the half-demon, smiling at how strange Inuyasha seemed with a pensive look.

"The Jewel…I mean…" Inuyasha started, and then paused as though he was unsure whether he should continue before moving on. "Do you think we should let those guys just take it?"

"Do you still actually want to become a full demon, Inuyasha?" Kagome inquired with a hint of skepticism. "Even after all we've seen?"

"No, it's just…" he began to respond, and then trailed off, as he finally took his gaze off the stars and looked at Kagome, who was smiling at him warmly.

In all honesty, becoming a full fledged demon had long ago been erased from Inuyasha's mind as a possible option of what to do with the Shikon Jewel, in no small part due to the bloodlust that had gripped him whenever he had transformed into one thus far. Recently, it had been replaced with another quite opposite possibility, something that he hadn't considered doing in over fifty years. As he looked at Kagome, he felt a twinge of sadness from deep within him as he accepted that after tomorrow, he would no longer have the option to go down that road.

"It's just what?" asked Kagome, tilting her head a little as she asked the question.

"Nothin'," said Inuyasha at last, turning his vision back upwards.

Kagome just continued to smile, and deciding that no more conversation was necessary, leaned her head against Inuyasha's shoulder and gazed up at the stars. Inuyasha blushed slightly, and his eyes flickered downwards to Kagome uncomfortably, but he did not resist, either, and so resolved himself to stargazing with company.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Elsewhere, Hiei was doing what he usually did when night fell, he was sitting in a tree that overlooked the small river which flowed through the village, looking out at the night sky with no particular interest. It was not that his mind was occupied by other things, it was simply that he had never found stars all that interesting in the first place. The only reason he was looking out towards them was that there was really nothing he had any interest of looking at. At least, that's what he would claim.

Sango, who found herself not feeling even the slightest bit sleepy, was walking along the riverbank when she spotted the fire demon in his perch, although it was highly probable that she expected him to be precisely in that spot anyway. Smiling slightly at Hiei's predictability, she walked over to the base of the tree and sat down with her back against its trunk.

"Its kind of strange, isn't it?" she stated more than asked. "After tomorrow, we'll probably never see each other again."

"Hn," grunted Hiei from the tree above her, which in this case could mean any number of things.

"You know, I think I might actually miss that little sound of yours," she admitted, suppressing a chuckle. "Even if it is rude, snobbish, and generally unpleasant."

No grunt followed that comment, but no other sound did either, and for a few moments, all that could be heard was the soft rustling of leaves in the light breeze. Finally, Hiei spoke.

"Your brother," he began, catching Sango off guard with the sudden change in topic. "What will you do about him?"

"I _will_ free him from Naraku," answered the demon slayer firmly. "It's just a matter of finding out how."

"Have you ever considered letting him go?" asked Hiei, showing no hint of hesitation in his voice. "Letting him die?"

"No! I could never do that! He's my brother!" said Sango, looking up at Hiei with the utmost shock on her face. "How could you even say that?"

"Hn, that's what makes you weak…" spat Hiei, as though he were referring to something that was slightly disgusting. "…attachments."

Sango was now furious, she could simply not believe what she was hearing. Not having a sense of tact was one thing, but this was unbelievable.

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" she demanded, her anger barely controlled.

"Attachments only drag you down. They hold you back and make you weaker. And when you are weak, all that lies ahead of you is dismal failure," said Hiei, not even showing the slightest bit of recognition to the offense he had caused. "If you want to be strong, to know victory, then you must hold on to nothing and no one. You must let go of everything that you think you have come to hold close to you, or you will suffer. _That_ is why you have to let go."

As soon as he had finished speaking, the demon rose and swiftly leapt from his perch, disappearing into the night. Sango was then left alone, stunned and infuriated beneath the tree.

'_How could he say something like that? Something so horrible?'_ she wondered. _'After all that we've been through how could he act so heartless?'_

For minutes on end she continued down this line of thought, eventually thinking up several fairly violent ways of getting retribution on the offending party. Eventually though, the rage subsided and her thoughts cleared as she went over what Hiei had said once more. This time though, she was able to look past the offending comments and look just beneath the surface to find what Hiei had truly meant. It was then that she realized that when Hiei had told her to "let go", he hadn't been talking about Kohaku at all.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Not far from the village, Naraku watched through the eyes of a demon puppet as he himself was hidden deep with the forest. Though the damage he had sustained earlier was far greater than he could have anticipated, the days since had allowed him more than enough time to recover completely. Even so, he would normally simply go into hiding after being defeated in battle, but this time was different. Naraku did not know much about the histories of these four newcomers, but he did know this: that if they had the Shikon Jewel, it would no be long before it would escape his grasp forever. This was something he simply could not allow.

With this in mind, he had followed the travelers all the way back to Kaede's village without even alerting his minions. He would have to attend to this swiftly efficiently and personally.

'_They mentioned something about a ritual involving the Jewel,'_ he recalled. _'I was unable to find out the specifics since I could not risk my puppet approaching too close, but at least I know that they will be performing it tomorrow. That will be my time to strike.'_

Its work now done, Naraku ordered the demon puppet to withdraw into the shadows. At this point, there was no time to plan or scheme. All that mattered now was stealth, guile, and above all, timing.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Despite the protests of a sleepy Yusuke, everyone was awoken by sunrise the next morning, the logic being that if they set out early, they would be able to arrive at the temple by midday and have a brief lunch before starting the ceremony to open the time portal. It was, after all, a twenty-five mile journey, and by foot that could take as long as six hours.

"I just don't know why you're in such a rush, Kurama," explained Yusuke grumpily to the fox demon, who, not surprisingly had come up with the sleep-detrimental timetable.

"Just a precaution, Yusuke," replied Kurama with his usual aura of patience as the group began to set out. "Naraku is not the only demon in this era after the Sacred Jewel, so it would be unwise to dawdle when we have so much of it in our possession."

"Damn it, you always have an explanation for everything," Yusuke grumbled. "I need to be able to do that. It would make things with Keiko one hell of a lot easier."

"Now do you understand how absurd it is that you don't have a woman, Kurama?" chimed in Miroku, nudging the fox demon in the shoulder with his elbow. "You have all the necessary skills. Why, you could do almost as well as me."

At this point, Sango would normally point out how unimpressive that really was, but she had been in a bit of a haze the whole morning, and the entire conversation went on without her noticing. However, only Kagome seemed to notice this, and she chose to say nothing. She was no novice when it came to understanding a girl's personal matters, and she recognized that this was not the moment to ask about it, as she was unlikely to get a straight answer. Making a mental note on this, she decided to enter the conversation and inflict further embarrassment on the already reddening Kurama.

"Is it that you just don't know any girls you're interested in?" suggested Kagome with a sly grin. "Because I could introduce you to a few girls I know back in our time."

"No really, I don't…"

"Oh! We could make it like a game show, and I would the super-cool host that all the ladies want to get down with."

"Exactly how drunk would those ladies happen to be, Kuwabara?"

"Shut up, Urameshi."


	18. Chapter Seventeen: The Long Road Home

**To the readers/reviewers:** As always, thank all of you for your support by reading and reviewing this fic. I put a lot of thought into this chapter, so any feedback you could offer would be greatly appreciated, as usual. Anyway…here thar be the next chapter! Well, it's either that, or dragons. I can never keep them straight.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Seventeen: The Long Road Home**

The trek to the temple had been long, but it was an easy hike aside from the final mile up the mountain where the temple sat. It had been the normal affair in terms of conversation, aside from Sango acting slightly more reserved than normal and Shippou asking Kurama twice as many questions as normal as the young fox demon took advantage of his last day with his newfound idol. When they finally did arrive at the top of the mountain, they broke out a light lunch before beginning the ceremony, the specifics of which were still unknown to anyone since Yusuke had kept the instructions safely preserved in the small silver amulet that had been tucked inconspicuously under his shirt for the entire journey. It was at this point where Kagome decided to try and figure out what had been bothering Sango.

"Hey, what's up?" she greeted the demon slayer as she sat down beside her with her lunch. "You've been kinda' quiet, is everything all right?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine," replied Sango unconvincingly as she realized she was being addressed. "I'm just a little tired, that's all."

_'It must be pretty bad if she still doesn't want to talk about it,'_ thought Kagome, not fooled for a second by the routine. _'I wonder what it could be? She seemed perfectly fine last night…'_

"All right, but if you _do_ ever have something on your mind, I'm the one to talk to. I have experience in social stuff," she said, pressing the matter ever so slightly. "I mean, you can't expect any of those guys to understand girl issues. Remember when I had to explain periods to Inuyasha?"

This at least got Sango to smile as they recalled the incident, which not surprisingly had involved a record amount of "sits". The rest of their lunch was filled with similar memories of men, mostly Inuyasha and Miroku, doing what they considered rather comically stupid things when they were confronted with various "girl issues". Of course, in most of these incidents, the men really had no idea that what they were doing was inappropriate and were thoroughly confused as to why they had been slapped, "sat", or hit with a giant boomerang, although Miroku always knew _exactly_ what he was doing when he tried to grope Sango's butt.

"Actually, Kagome, when I said I was just tired, I wasn't being entirely honest with you…" began Sango after they had stopped laughing at a particularly amusing encounter Miroku had with a beautiful woman who happened to be married to a renowned martial artist. "It's…well…"

"Hey, you two," called Yusuke from over by the large stone archway in front of the temple. "It's time to start the ceremony thing now."

_'You couldn't wait just one more minute?'_ thought Kagome irritably, and rose from here seat on the ground with Sango.

"So, what exactly do I have to do?" asked Kagome when she had walked over to Yusuke and the others, the former of which was struggling to open the silver amulet that contained the instructions for the spell.

"Hold on just a second…" replied the boy, as he tried every possible method to open the amulet with absolutely no success.

"Allow me to see it," requested Kurama, with a knowing smile.

Yusuke handed the amulet over to his teammate with a grumble, although he was clearly not expecting Kurama to do any better. However, much to Yusuke's chagrin, Kurama managed to open the amulet with minimal effort and handed the tightly rolled scroll over to Kagome.

"I loosened it up for ya'," mumbled Yusuke as Kagome unraveled the scroll, which turned out to be so long that it hit the ground when Kagome held it up.

"Wow that looks long…" voiced Kuwabara.

"Yeah…but that's mostly because it starts out with a full length essay called "Why Koenma is Awesome", complete with visual aids…" Kagome said, eyebrow raised skeptically. "The actual spell doesn't seem that complicated, but I should read it over a few more times just to be sure I know how it works…"

After a minute or so of rereading over the useful part of the scroll a few times, Kagome rolled it back up and exchanged the scroll for the mostly complete Sacred Jewel that Yusuke was still in possession of. She then walked over towards the stone archway, her eyes scanning the tiles in front of it. At last, she found what she was looking for, a tile several rows in front of the gateway that had an intricate circular emblem in the middle of it. Conveniently, there was a shallow indentation in the center of the emblem that the jewel fit into easily as Kagome placed it there.

Everyone remained silent as Kagome then proceeded to kneel in front of the engraved tile facing the archway and closed her eyes in concentration. Even Yusuke remained silent, not having any desire whatsoever for Kagome to screw up the spell and send them to the beginning of time. A few minutes after Kagome began the spell, though, the silence became involuntary as the Sacred Jewel began to glow with a beautiful violet light. Slowly, the lines of the emblem it was placed in began to glow in a similar manner, and then two lines of the light began to creep across the temple floor from the emblem, each one headed towards a pillar of the stone archway.

The lines moved slowly, but eventually, they did at last reach the archway, and the moment they did so, its surface became engulfed with what looked like purple streams of electricity, and everyone knew that within seconds, a portal would be created, and the Spirit Detectives would leave this time forever. At least, that was what they _thought_ would happen. So occupied were they with the spectacle that was before them, that they had not realized that they were not alone in the temple.

At that moment, when the comrades in arms were all staring in awe at the archway, Naraku burst into the temple grounds in his human form, his white baboon skin cloak whipping about as he dashed towards where Kagome knelt. Naraku could not have chosen a more perfect moment to act, for even Hiei with his Jagan Eye and his unmatched speed was in no position to act against him. As such, he made it unopposed to the Sacred Jewel, and snatched it from its place in the emblem.

Immediately, the currents around the archway ceased existing, and the emblem and the two paths connected to it stopped glowing. The Sacred Jewel, however, glowed with as much intensity as ever as Naraku clutched it in his hand. Sensing that something had gone wrong, Kagome opened her eyes, gasping and trying desperately to crawl backwards upon seeing the demon before her. Fortunately, Inuyasha acted before Naraku could strike out at her, and leaped forward towards his nemesis, so concerned about moving quickly that he didn't even bother to unsheathe his sword and tried to strike with his claws.

Naraku easily leapt away from the attack, a landing on the bough of a nearby tree with a wicked smile on his face. One would think that someone as wise as Naraku would know better than to stay long when he was greatly outnumbered by a group that had so recently defeated him, but something about the jewel in his hand gave him confidence enough to stay.

"I don't know what it is that you have done to the Shikon Jewel, but I must say I approve," he said mockingly as everyone spread out and put themselves into a fighting position. "I daresay that it feels more powerful then it has ever been."

Kurama, discerning that Naraku's pleasure about the jewel's condition meant that it would be wise to defeat him quickly, was the first to act. In one smooth motion, he removed a rose from his hair, transforming it into its whip form and lashing it towards Naraku. The distance that separated the fox demon from Naraku was great enough that it allowed Naraku to easily leap away to another perch as his former one was cut in two by the attack.

"Ah, the meddlesome fox, I shall test the jewel's new power on you first," declared Naraku, and held the jewel out towards his assailant.

Then, to the shock of everyone, a blast of purple energy burst forth from the still glowing jewel with incredible speed. Kurama, caught completely off guard by this new maneuver, reacted too slowly, and by the time he had started to try and avoid the blast, it had engulfed him completely, at which point everyone was momentarily blinded by a bright flash of light. When the light died down, to the terrible shock of all save Naraku, there was not a single trace of Kurama remaining.

Perhaps because his thought process was much simpler than anyone else's at the moment, consisting of realizing Kurama was gone and that it was Naraku's fault, but Kuwabara recovered from the shock the quickest. His voice sounded animalistic as he activated his Spirit Sword and charged Naraku with a righteous fury. Naraku's grin looked almost insane as he pointed the Shikon Jewel towards Kuwabara and fired another blast of energy from it. Kuwabara, however, was prepared, and swung his Spirit Sword at the oncoming attack. Much to his dismay, the blade of energy simply passed right through it, and all he could manage to do was open his eyes wide in reaction as he too disappeared in a blinding flash.

Moments after Kuwabara had charged Naraku, Hiei had sprung into action, and the time it had taken Naraku to eliminate the boy had allowed the fire demon to get behind him, sword unsheathed. For once, however, Hiei was not fast enough, and the horizontal cut he made with his katana merely cut a gash down Naraku's left arm, the one that was not holding the jewel. Realizing he could not hit Hiei, Naraku smiled with barbaric satisfaction at the demon as he pointed the jewel not towards Hiei, but towards Sango, who remained fastened to the ground with shock like her other comrades.

Gritting his teeth as he realized what Naraku was doing, Hiei abruptly changed course tearing through the air towards Sango even as Naraku fired another blast towards the stunned demon slayer. Time seemed to slow down as Hiei raced the deadly attack towards Sango in a competition that would decide her fate. For this brief moment, Hiei didn't care that he was letting Naraku use his emotions against him, even if he had fought with all his might to acknowledge that those specific emotions had ever existed. All that mattered to him in this moment was that he got to Sango first. As fortune would have it, he did arrive first, ramming into Sango's shoulder with his own, throwing her through the air to safety, and for the tiniest fraction of a second, a small, almost undetectable hint of relief could be seen on his face. Then, like Kurama and Kuwabara before him, he vanished from the world in a flash of light.

"What power! What absolute power!" cackled Naraku manically from the trees. "With this new power, I shall kill all you of you! At last, I shall have absolute victory!"

Everyone was horror stricken, too shocked to do anything but gape at the demon that likely represented their impending doom. Everyone, that is, save Yusuke Urameshi, who was staring at the ground and shaking uncontrollably with his fists clenched in an anger he had never felt before.

"You…bastard…" he whispered hoarsely before looking up towards Naraku with a look on his face that was so full of rage that it seemed almost inhuman and began to yell with a voice of the same nature. "YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL SEND YOU STRAIGHT TO HELL!"

As he roared his furious declaration, a burst of blue light erupted from him like an explosion, and it licked the sky like a towering inferno, only growing in intensity with each passing moment. So high was his spirit energy and so terrifying was the sight that it was now Naraku who was frozen with fear. Every instinct told him to run, but his body would not obey.

"DIE, YOU MONSTER!" yelled Yusuke, positioning his hands into position for his signature attack. "SPIRIT GUN!"

Suddenly, the swirling energy around him was all pulled in towards a single glowing point in from of the index finger that was pointed towards Naraku like it was being drawn in towards a black hole, and just as suddenly it rushed out towards the targeted demon in the form of a gigantic beam of destructive blue energy. Naraku managed to gain control of himself enough to hold the Sacred Jewel out between him and the oncoming attack, and for a moment the power of the Jewel struggled against it. However, even the Sacred Jewel could not withstand such an assault, and in a brilliant burst of purple light, it shattered once more, its shards scattering about the land like purple comets.

Though it was weakened by the struggle, Yusuke's attack still had plenty of remaining energy, and it continued forward, slamming into Naraku with terrible force. Still, it did not stop, tearing through trees and earth before finally colliding with the face of a mountain off in the distance and ending with a massive explosion that took a good chunk out of the mountainside.

"Gotcha'…" said Yusuke weakly, and then fell to his knees as his eyes began to overflow with salty tears.

A jewel shard had somehow managed to fall right at the boy's feet, and he picked it up in his hand, clenching his fist around it like he was trying to crush it. Seeing someone like Yusuke, who was always all smiles, break down like this was distressing, and no one really knew how to react. Surprisingly, it was Inuyasha who walked over to his side, placing a clawed hand on his shoulder.

"Ya' got him, kid," he said quietly. "It's over."

"What does that even matter?" spat Yusuke wrenching his shoulder away and slamming his fist into the ground, creating a small crater. "It was too late…they're gone…damn it!

"Yusuke w-" began Kagome, moving beside Inuyasha to try and comfort the boy before being cut off by Yusuke's other fist slamming into the ground in similar fashion.

"Shut up! Just shut up!" the boy snapped, quickly rising to his feet and trying to wipe away his tears. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have even come here! They're dead because of you, so you can just go to hell!"

With that Yusuke shoved the jewel shard he had found into his pocket and stormed off down the path leading up to the temple, not bothering to let Kagome respond. Kagome too had been feeling a terrible loss from the tragedy that had just occurred, and Yusuke's vicious accusation had been all it had take for her to bury her head into Inuyasha's shoulder and weep, with Shippou, who was clinging teary eyed onto her skirt, immediately adding his own sobs to hers.

"Don't listen to him Kagome," said Inuyasha, finding that watching Kagome cry like this was painful to watch. "It's not your fault at all. He was going to blame the first thing he saw."

"B-but…the spell…" she managed to stutter in between sobs. "I must have…m-must have done it wrong. It wasn't 'sposed to do that…"

"Don't be foolish, it looked like it was working just fine," assured Miroku as he helped Sango up off the ground, for once not even considering attempting to grab her posterior. "Naraku just interrupted it, there was nothing you could do."

"It happened so suddenly…" said Sango gravely, petting Kirara's head as the small feline rubbed against her legs worriedly. "It's hard to believe that it actually happened."

"Well, Yusuke's probably headed towards Kaede's village now," said Inuyasha. "We should head back and keep an eye on him."

Everyone who wasn't crying nodded in concurrence, and they began a sad march down the mountain after the last Spirit Detective.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Fortunately, they arrived back at Kaede's village to find that nothing had been destroyed in anger by Yusuke, and Inuyasha was still able to smell him in the area. Reasoning that he needed some time alone, they had decided to leave him in peace and try and set about their usual activities. Kagome and Sango had gone to clean themselves up, and Kaede had been kind enough to take Shippou on a walk to try and distract the young fox demon from the events of the day. This left Inuyasha and Miroku, who had enough decency to throw off his normal perverted behavior, sitting alone in Kaede's hut.

"Inuyasha, there is something that has been bothering me…" said the monk clutching his right wrist in his other hand and looking down at his tainted right hand. "I do not think that Naraku is dead."

"What? That's not possible," replied Inuyasha in surprise. "Nothing could have survived that blast!"

"Believe it or not it is the truth, because my Wind Tunnel is _not_ gone," countered Miroku solemnly.

At this Inuyasha grimaced and gazed into the fire in the middle of the hut. Miroku's curse would cease to exist the moment that Naraku died, so if the Wind Tunnel was not gone, then Naraku had to be alive. Somehow, Naraku had once again managed to cheat death.

"Tell Kagome or Sango if you must, but don't let Yusuke know," continued the monk. "If he thinks that he has at least avenged his friends, then he may be able to recover from their loss with time."

"Right, that makes sense," the half-demon agreed. "And we'd better not tell Shippou either, the little guy can have trouble keeping a secret. What about the jewel, though? If Naraku's alive, we'll need to find the shards again before he can."

"Well, Yusuke found one at the temple, and Kaede gave Kagome one that landed near the village, so at least we have a head start on him thanks to good fortune," answered Miroku, though both he and Inuyasha cringed after realizing that "good fortune" was a poor choice of words.

With nothing more to discuss, the pair fell into a glum silence, with only the crackling of the fire making a sound. Hey remained this way until Kagome and Sango entered the hut. Kagome had stopped crying hours ago, but neither of them bore an expression any better than the other two occupants of the hut. Just as Kagome was sitting down though, her gaze suddenly rested on a corner of the hut that housed one jug of sake.

"Weren't there three jugs of sake when we were here last time?" she asked, her voice fraught with worry.

"Aren't they still…" said Miroku as he followed Kagome's gaze and then noticed the lonely sake jug. "Oh no..."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Yusuke took another swig from the sake jug in his right hand as he stared at the well Kagome used to travel through time from his seat on the grass. It looked like any other well one might find in feudal Japan, save the shattered pieces of an empty sake jug that rested at its base. To Yusuke's disappointment, the jug had failed to do any damage to the well when he had thrown it, but then again it had been empty, and it was poorly thrown due to Yusuke's considerable lack of coordination due to his having drank the entire jug.

Being the junior high punk that he was, Yusuke was had tried alcohol before, but it had only been once, and had been nothing more than some cheap beer he had stolen from a grocery store. The sake he was drinking now was far stronger, and his body was putting up a poor resistance to the alcohol, yet, like many in situations of despair, he continued to drink anyway.

"Stupid well…" he mumbled with considerable slurring as he took yet another swig. "This 'zall yer fault. If you 'aint here, then Kagome 'aint here, then I 'aint here. You suck, stupid ass well."

"I thought I smelled vermin," came an emotionless and imperious voice from behind Yusuke, who turned himself around to face the speaker considerable difficulty.

The person speaking was Sesshomaru, who stood at least fifty yards away. It appeared that he either judged it unsafe for his entourage to be there, or simply wanted to spare Rin the vision of him killed a human boy, for he was alone with Yusuke in the clearing. Yusuke, however, saw no less than half a dozen one armed demons staring at with the utmost contempt.

"Hey, iz the one armed mascara man," said Yusuke, grinning stupidly as he cocked his head to the side. "I din't know you had a bunch of twins…wait…is it twins, or is there 'nother word fer that when there's more then two…?"

"You're…inebriated," stated Sesshomaru, grimacing in disgust.

"I dunno what that word is…but I'm drunk if thas wha' ya' mean," replied Yusuke, taking a last swig from the sake jug before dropping it and stumbling to his feat. "Why're ya' here anyway? Ya' said ya' 'aint comin' back 'cause I kicked your ass."

"I said I would not return _if_ I lost. I did _not_ lose that day," answered Sesshomaru sharply. "In fact, I have returned for the very purpose of finishing you off."

"'Zat so? 'Cause I'll kick yer ass right now, mascara man," said Yusuke, stumbling a little as he showed Sesshomaru the middle finger on his right hand. "Bring it on, wuss."

Sesshomaru needed no further invitation, and he quickly dashed forward and slammed his fist into Yusuke's gut, causing the boy to double over in pain. As he fell towards the ground, however, Sesshomaru stopped his fall by grabbing hold of his hair and then kneeing him in the face. Yusuke was sent sprawling backwards, his head slamming into the base of the well and denting the wood frame. In an instant, Sesshomaru dashed over to him and placed his hand on his throat, holding him up over the well.

"Go on, do your worst," challenged Yusuke as he stared at Sesshomaru and smirked. "You can't take nothin' from me 'cause I got nothin' left."

"You seek death?" asked Sesshomaru, who had noticed that Yusuke had not even attempted to put up a drunken defense.

"Dun' ask stupid questions, stupid," the drunk Spirit Detective replied, still smirking.

"Sesshomaru, put him down!" ordered Inuyasha as he arrived on the scene, leaping up a few meters from the well and letting Kagome off of his back.

"As you wish, dear brother," responded Sesshomaru, and gazing straight at his kin, let go of Yusuke.

However, when Yusuke fell into the well, he did not feel himself slam into the ground as had thought he would. Instead, he was surrounded by a strange light and felt as though he was floating for several moments. When the light faded, he was indeed lying at the bottom of a well, but when he looked up, there was a roof above him. He crawled into one of the corners of the well, and curled up, suddenly feeling very sleepy. Before he passed out, he saw the floor of the well glow and heard Kagome calling his name. He also heard his own voice, weak and haggard.

"I wanna' go home," he said. "I just wanna' go home…"


	19. Chapter Eighteen: Fall to Pieces

**To the readers/reviewers:** OK, I'll admit it, I had an extremely hard time convincing myself not to put an authors note saying "MUAHAHA! Your anguish sustains me!" at the end of that last chapter. But enough with regretting the past, on with the present! To answer the question about the third crossover: it is scheduled to appear in the next chapter. However, I may need to take a little extra time to make sure I have a firm grasp on the characters from this third…thing-that-I-wont-give-you-a-hint-about, so don't expect another quick update like this one. Mind you, I will still be trying to write it ASAP. We all clear on that? Groovy.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Eighteen: Fall to Pieces**

_Yusuke could see them dying, each one of them in the same flash of light. The memory was burned into his mind, and he paid no attention to where he was walking, not realizing that he was once again walking up a familiar mountain. His eyes were transfixed on the ground in front of him, and only when he saw the strange circular emblem engraved on the tile floor did he realize where he was._

_"Damn it. Of all the places," he mumbled, and turned to leave._

_"Urameshi."_

_Abruptly, Yusuke turned at the sound of Kuwabara's voice, shocked and joyous that his friend was still alive, but what he saw only threw him into further misery. Kuwabara was indeed there, but he looked almost transparent, and was floating several feat above the ground. Kuwabara was not alive, for he was a ghost._

_"Why didn't you help me, Urameshi?" asked Kuwabara mournfully, as if he had been the victim of a terrible betrayal._

_"Kuwabara…I'm sorry…I was in shock…I..." Yusuke tried to explain pleadingly, once again directing his gaze to the ground at his feet. _

_"Yet somehow, Kuwabara recovered and you did not," came Kurama's voice as the fox demon's specter floated up from the ground to join Kuwabara. "There is no valid explanation for your inaction, Yusuke."_

_"But…I…I tried…" Yusuke continued his increasingly desperate rationalization and doing a poor job of holding back tears as he faced his dead friends. "I really did…"_

_"Hn, trying isn't good enough," scoffed Hiei as he now appeared beside Kurama. "I was wrong about you. You're as weak and unreliable as any other human. You disgust me."_

_With that, the three of them turned and slowly began to float away from the surviving member of their team. By now, Yusuke's face was streaked with tears, and his voice was shaky as he called out after them. _

_"Wait! Guys, I'm sorry! Please don't go!" he begged, falling to his knees as they gave way underneath him. "Kurama! Hiei! Don't leave! Come on, Kuwabara, you've got to believe me! I did everything I could, I swear!"_

_Slowly, Kuwabara stopped as the other two continued onward. He then turned around to face his longtime friend and rival, the boy who had come to be almost like a brother to him since they first had started fighting demons together. Though as he looked at Yusuke, there was still that same look of a man betrayed in his sad eyes._

_"The great Yusuke Urameshi is supposed to be able to do anything," he said somberly. "So why couldn't you save us, Urameshi?"_

_Kuwabara then turned his back to his former teammate, and floated onward after the specters of the two demons, leaving Yusuke kneeling on the ground. By now he was sobbing, no longer even trying to hold it back._

_"It's all my fault…" he whispered to himself as his sobs began to slow down. "Not Kagome's, not the stupid well's, it's **my** fault. They're all dead because of me!"_

000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Yusuke! Wake up!"

Slowly, Yusuke opened his eyes and saw the concerned face of Keiko Yukimura looking down at him. He sat up and looked around, rubbing his eyes. He was not at the temple where he had fought and defeated Naraku, he was in a modern bedroom, sitting in a comfortable bed. Keiko was standing beside his bed, but he did not recognize this as her home.

"You were having a nightmare," said Keiko, trying to ease Yusuke's no doubt troubled mind. "But whatever it was, it wasn't real. You're back in Tokyo at Kagome's shrine. She didn't know where you lived, so she just brought you here."

Yusuke nodded and stared down silently at the bed for a long time. At last, he looked at Keiko, her expression still one of the utmost concern.

"They're dead, Keiko. Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara…they're all dead," he stated with a level, yet decidedly sorrowful voice.

"I know, Yusuke," she replied sadly. "Kagome told Botan what happened, and then she told me. Yusuke, if I know you, then you're probably blaming yourself, but there was nothing you or anyone else could have done."

"And if I know you, you're saying that because you think it will make me feel better," he responded and began to once again stare blankly at the bedcovers. "But it's the truth. It's my fault, Keiko."

"Yusuke, don't ev-"

"Just leave me alone."

"Bu-"

"Just leave, Keiko. Nothing you can say is gonna' help me."

Realizing that Yusuke was determined to wallow in his own misery alone, Keiko sighed and walked towards the door to the room. She looked back over her shoulder just before the door to see Yusuke gazing down at the bed like a statue, and shaking her head, she opened the door and preceded the hallway and down the stairs where Kagome and Inuyasha were waiting.

"How is he?" asked Kagome as Keiko sat herself down on the bottom step.

"Not too good. I think he could develop a serious case of survivor's guilt," answered Keiko. "He may be like this for months."

No one spoke for a few moments, for there was, in truth, nothing that required conversation. The silence was broken by the opening of the front door and the footsteps that followed as Botan walked into the room looking no more cheerful than anyone else.

"I'm sorry I took so long getting back," she apologized, trying to wipe some dried tears away from her eyes. "I had to deliver the news to Shizuru, and I just couldn't leave her alone when she was crying like she was."

After a few more moments of silence, Botan spoke again.

"Oh, by the way, I have to ask: how did Yusuke made it back to our time?" she inquired half-heartedly. "Koenma will want to know."

"He fell down the well," recalled Kagome, now realizing how strange that was. "He had a jewel shard with him when he fell, but he still shouldn't have been transported back here…"

"That's very strange…" the ferry girl responded, putting her hand up to her chin in thought. "Well, perhaps Koenma will be able to explain when he gets here. He said he would come here as soon as possible."

"Well, I suppose it's a good thing that my family is off seeing relatives," commented Kagome. "I'm not sure how they'd react to seeing the ruler of the Spirit World in our house."

Once again, the four were left with nothing to say, and so the house remained silent as they waited for Koenma to arrive.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Yusuke was not alone in feeling responsible for what happened the day before. In fact, he had a far less legitimate sense of guilt than others, namely Sango. Though there was nothing she could have done to prevent it, it had been her presence on the battlefield that had doomed Hiei, and she knew it. The realization that he had sacrificed himself to save her was a terrible thing for her to take, and she had quickly isolated herself from everyone that remained in the village that would one day be Tokyo after Inuyasha and Kagome had followed Yusuke down the well, sleeping alone under the stars outside Kaede's hut.

The next morning, she awoke with the rising sun, and, not feeling the slightest bit hungry, decided to go for a walk to calm herself. It was a failed attempt. She had only made it to the tree where she had last spoken to Hiei when she broke down. Fighting to try and control the streams of tears that poured from her eyes and muffle her sobs, she sat down and leaned against the tree in the same position she had done two nights ago.

'_You were right after all, Hiei'_ she thought, closing her eyes in an attempt to clear her head. _'Attachments do drag you down. They kill you, just like I killed you.'_

She looked out at the small stream in front of her as it sparkled with the light of the sun as it began its ascent to the heavens. For a while, all she could feel was guilt, but as she forced herself to think about what had happened, a new thought occurred to her.

'_But if you truly didn't believe in attachments, then you wouldn't have saved me, would you?' _she realized. _'You liar. You were trying to convince yourself as much as me that night. You were afraid about how you felt, so you tried to convince yourself that you felt nothing at all. You turned out just to be a big hypocrite in the end, though.'_

As someone who understood Hiei, Sango knew exactly how significant his actions were. The number of people that Hiei would willingly sacrifice his own life for was so small it was almost nonexistent, and Sango realized that being one of those people meant that she had been far more important to Hiei than the demon would ever have admitted in life. Figuring this out only made her cry harder, however, for the things left unsaid in life always seem to cause pain in death. Eventually, though, there were no more tears for her to shed, and her weeping slowed to a halt. Mere moments after she had regained her composure, Miroku came walking over towards the tree, and when he noticed her tears, his expression turned to one of scrutinizing concern.

"It seems that the likes of us cannot escape such tragedy, can we?' he said as he sat himself down several feet to her left.

"No, we can't," Sango replied shaking her head. "But t least now that Naraku is dead, no one else can suffer like we have."

"Unfortunately, that is not the case. My Wind Tunnel is still here, so Naraku yet lives." corrected Miroku, now watching Sango intently for her reaction to this news. "

"No! He's still alive?" Sango said in bewilderment, gaping at Miroku as if he had just said some inconceivable blasphemy. "How is that even possible."

"Luck, and a strong will to live would be guess," ventured Miroku as Sango wiped away the dried tears on her face, suddenly becoming more alert. "I'm afraid Yusuke may have to wait for his vengeance."

"It's the vengeance of each and every one of us," amended Sango with a sudden fire in her voice. "He has to pay for he's done."

Now, Miroku, though he gave off the appearance of someone of confidence, was fraught with self doubt over many issues. Chief among these was that he was not good enough for the woman whom he held most dear. He had displayed this by his inability to tell said woman how he truly felt, outside of his usual perverted gimmicks, of course. It was only natural, then, that he would come to assume the worst of his chances should another man vie for the woman's heart. In fact, he had done just that when a young noble had stepped onto the playing field not so long ago.

It was because of this that Miroku could no longer look at Sango after her sudden and passionate reaction, for, to him, it confirmed the awful suspicion that had been swirling around in his mind. Everything was making sense. The way Sango had thrown herself into the line of fire for Hiei at Naraku's castle, how she had always defended him when his character was put into question, how she had been so sullen when the Spirit Detectives were about to leave forever, and now, the last piece was fitting into place.

When she said that Naraku had to pay, she had not meant for his hundreds of other monstrous acts, Miroku concluded that she had been thinking about one specific thing: the death of Hiei, which could only mean the worst about her feelings for the fire demon. One might think that Miroku would see his chances improving with Hiei gone, but this was not the case, for Hiei had died while saving Sango's life. Had he simply departed back to his time without showing a hint of regret, as Miroku had both hoped and expected him to do a day ago, then there was a chance, no, it was certain, that Sango's thoughts would move on from the fire demon, and Miroku would once again have a fighting chance. With this sacrificial death, however, one that revealed the unthinkable truth of how Hiei felt about the demon slayer, the fire demon would remain the sole occupant of Sango's heart. Though he had prayed that this would not be the case, Miroku could come to no other conclusion after seeing Sango's reaction just a moment ago.

"Well, I'm glad that your spirit still seems to be intact. That's good," said the monk, smiling softly at Sango before he raised himself up with his staff, but as he left, he said something else quietly, though Sango could still hear it clearly. "He would have wanted you to be happy."

Sango turned abruptly upon hearing these last words, her eyes wide with startled recognition. Ashamedly, she had not given much thought to whether or not Miroku had noticed the same thing that she had. Now, to the greatening of Sango's guilt, Miroku was walking away, both in body, and in soul.

"Miroku!" she called after him, silently pleading that he would at least stop and give them a chance to talk, but the monk walked on as if she had said nothing at all.

'_I'm sorry, Sango,' _thought the monk, using every once of willpower he had not to turn at the sound of her calling his name. _'But if I'm just second place, then there's no way that you could ever truly be happy with me. So, I'm afraid it's time to put to rest this little dream of mine.'_

000000000000000000000000000000000000

For over an hour, Inuyasha, Kagome, Keiko and Botan had tried to distract themselves while waiting for Koenma to arrive. Making conversation proved impossible, and any attempt was met with awkward silence. To no one's great surprise but everyone's disappointment, Yusuke had shown no sign of coming down from his temporary room. Not so much as a sound could be heard from the floor above. At last, a knock could be heard on the front door to the home.

"Be right there," called Botan as she scurried anxiously over to the front hall, followed quickly by the other three.

When Botan opened the door, neither Kagome nor Inuyasha knew quite how to react. They had expected the ruler of Spirit World to look lordly, or at the very least menacing, but what they saw before them could only be described as simply odd. The body of Koenma was that of a young man, with a lean build and short brown hair. The red cape he wore with his red tunic and the steeled look in his eyes would have made him seem almost dashing, but whatever of that quality he had was utterly ruined by the strange "JR" tattoo on his forehead and the fact that he had, of all things, a pacifier in his mouth.

"I apologize for my tardiness, I had a mess of paperwork from…ah, but that's not important," he began as he stepped through the open doorway, and then shifted his gaze towards the gawking Kagome and Inuyasha. "I'm assuming that you two are Kagome and Inuyasha. I'm sorry we have to meet in such terrible circumstances, but I am glad to make your acquaintance nonetheless."

Inuyasha just nodded dumbly while Kagome exchanged the sentiment. No matter how the half-demon tried, he simply could _not_ stop looking at that pacifier. With the greetings taken care of, the group moved into the kitchen where everyone save Inuyasha took a seat at the table. He sat on the counter.

"Koenma, sir," began Botan respectfully. "You asked me to find out how Yusuke managed to get back to this time period. Well, apparently, he just fell through the well with a piece of the Sacred Jewel in his pocket."

"Odd…" commented Koenma, stroking his chin, apparently in deep thought, and then addressed Kagome and Inuyasha. "Only you two con travel through the well in your experience, correct?"

"Yeah, that's right," answered Kagome. "Yusuke shouldn't have been transported back here. It doesn't make sense."

"Actually, it makes plenty of sense for Yusuke…" Koenma murmured, and then suddenly stopped as though just realizing he had said that out loud.

"What do you mean?" asked Inuyasha curiously, ever the suspicious one.

"Well, how is it that _you_ are able to pass through the well?" Koenma put forth rather quickly, drawing a suspicious glance from Botan.

"I…um…uh…" fumbled Inuyasha as he racked his brain for a piece of information he clearly did not posses.

"Exactly my point," continued Koenma hastily, with just a tiny bit of relief in his voice that made Botan's suspicion only more apparent. "No one knows what lets one pass through the well. It makes sense to me that Yusuke can pass through the well, which is apparently an ability that is based largely on luck, because he tends to be extremely lucky in these circumstances. A rather good trait, wouldn't you say?"

Kagome, Inuyasha and Keiko nodded slowly, not knowing Koenma well enough to realize that he was acting suspiciously. Botan, however, was not fooled for an instant, and she made a mental note to find out what the deity was hiding as soon as she got the chance.

"Well, I suppose we should get to the real reasons I've come here, aside from checking on Yusuke's well being, of course," continued Koenma, acting as businesslike as possible. "The first thing you should know is that Yusuke will no longer be accompanying you in the feudal era. Th-"

"What? How come?" blurted Kagome only to quickly silence herself and flush slightly with embarrassment at having interrupted the ruler of the afterlife.

"I was getting to that. You didn't think that someone as important as me would do something without a reason, did you?" said Koenma with an amused smile at Kagome's embarrassment while Botan rolled her eyes at Koenma's boastfulness. "The fact is that we simply can't afford to lose Yusuke on a mission that, no offense, is merely of secondary importance to us. Yusuke is now the Human World's sole defense against the supernatural at the moment due to the deaths of his teammates."

"I'm not so sure," voiced Inuyasha, drawing everyone's stares. "They…they might not be dead."

"You mean they could still be alive?" Botan asked hopefully, momentarily forgetting about Koenma's suspicious behavior.

"And where did you come up with this idea?" Koenma inquired, leaning forward in his seat and staring piercingly at the half-demon.

"Well…I've just been thinking about what happened, and it doesn't make much sense," Inuyasha started to explain, shifting himself slightly and scratching an itch on the back of his head. "For starters, when they were blasted, I didn't smell any ash, and I've never seen _anything_ so strong that it doesn't leave any remains."

"What else did you notice, Inuyasha?" asked Kagome, sensing Inuyasha's hesitation.

"The ground where they had been standing on after they were hit. After the light died down, the ground was exactly the same. No crater, no burn marks, no nothin'," continued Inuyasha, his voice gradually gaining confidence. "Yeah, and when Kuwabara tried to hit the blast with his Spirit Sword, it just passed through! It was like it wasn't a normal energy blast, but somethin' different."

Everyone waited as Koenma took a second to take this all in. After a few moments of silent thinking, he turned towards Kagome.

"Tell me, Miss Higurashi, at what point in the ceremony did Naraku take the jewel?" he questioned, his voice tense with anticipation.

"Towards the end," replied the girl. "The archway had just started to sort of crackle with energy."

Once again, Koenma paused to digest this information. However, this time it seemed to be taking longer than usual for him to do so. Everyone surmised that this must be a very complex matter, for he had now begun to chew intently on his pacifier and his eyes had narrowed as he stared off into space.

"Wait, that spell was supposed to send them back to our time, right?" chimed in Keiko, who up until now had merely observed the conversation pensively. "So, if it were interrupted before it was done, then wouldn't the jewel be sort of partially infused with the time travel spell?"

"I suppose that might make sense…what is it that you're thinking, Miss Yukimura?" responded Koenma, eager to see where she was going with this idea.

"Maybe that demon only _thought_ that the jewel had become more powerful. Maybe that blast of energy wasn't _really_ a deadly attack, but a blast that would send them to another time using the incomplete spell that was still infused in it," reasoned Keiko, leaving everyone staring at her, totally dumbfounded by what she had just said. "Or does that not make sense? I'm still not totally sure about some of the things spirit energy can do…"

For a few awkward seconds, everyone just stared at her, and Keiko had a sinking feeling that she really had no idea what she was talking about. Fortunately, just as she thought this, Botan's face was suddenly lit up in a gleeful smile

"Keiko, you're a genius!" declared the ferry girl happily. "I always knew you were the smart one!"

"I have to agree, that theory is entirely plausible. In fact, the odds are extremely good of that being what actually happened," concurred Koenma with a nod. "However, while it is good that Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei may still be alive, I'm afraid that it really isn't that much better."

"How isn't that better than them being dead?" snapped Inuyasha, whose usual rudeness had also returned.

"Well, you see, at that point in the spell, the energies involved are very unstable," Koenma started to surmise. "Unfortunately, this means that they could have been transported to any time period you could imagine. What's more, the spell may even have been unstable enough to transport them through space as well. In other words they could be any number of places at any point in time, and finding them, I'm afraid, would be next to impossible."

"So…then nothing changes…" concluded Botan miserably, the smile on her face having once again retreated.

"I'm afraid not, and it is for this reason that I please ask you do not tell Yusuke of this," stated Koenma, who continued quickly before Keiko could protest. "If he finds out, then I have no doubt that he will try and find them without rest, which he will find an impossible task. He may lose his very sanity in the process, and I don't think any of us would want that."

Everyone nodded slowly in agreement, and Koenma then moved on to the other reason why he had come to see them. It turned out that he had managed to work out a full pardon for Kagome and Inuyasha, although it had a provision that Inuyasha voiced grievance against. Essentially, Koenma explained that, should they ever gather all the shards of the Shikon Jewel, they could not abuse it by using it to give them power, meaning that Inuyasha could not use it to become a full demon. Eventually, Inuyasha had realized that he would get nowhere by arguing, and had grudgingly abandoned what had once been his greatest desire.

"Well, that settles that," said Koenma thankfully when Inuyasha had at last stopped arguing. "Now, all that's left is to check on Yusuke."

Right on cue, the sound of a door opening and shutting could be heard, and everyone rose and headed to the staircase, which Yusuke was now descending.

"It's good to see that you are all right Yusuke," greeted Koenma, to which the boy merely grunted. "If you're worried I'm here to put you back on the case, you can stop. As far as Spirit World is concerned, this case is closed."

"Yeah, and guess what? You can close any other stupid cases you have too, 'cause I quit," Yusuke growled, glaring at Koenma with what seemed like pure hatred.

"Wha-You can't quit, Yusuke!" stammered Koenma in disbelief. "You're the only Spirit Detective we have! If you quit, then there's no one left to protect the Human World!"

"Well that's your problem, isn't it?" barked Yusuke harshly. "Now get outa' my way."

Without another word, Yusuke shoved the shocked deity out of his way, stormed through the hallway, and walked right out the front door, slamming it behind him. Koenma, whose shoulder had collided harshly with the wall, rubbed it out of instinct as he gazed off in the direction Yusuke had gone with absolute astonishment.

"We can't let this happen," he said suddenly, his voice now panicked. "He can't quit...if disaster strikes, I have no one left to turn to…"

"If we could somehow find the others, then I'm sure he'd be back to normal," proposed Botan assuredly. "Koenma, sir, are you sure that there is no way we can find them?"

"Aside from getting luckier than I care to think about, I'm afraid so, Botan," said Koenma, shaking his head sadly. "All we can hope is that, wherever they are, they manage to live out their lives in peace."


	20. Chapter Nineteen: A Change of Scenery

**To the readers/reviewers:** I sincerely apologize for the distress that I have apparently caused some of you (judging by the reviews) in the last two chapters…NOT! Man, I crack me up. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing, as always. Your support is appreciated. Anyway, here comes the next chapter, in which we learn the fate of our three missing heroes and the third crossover is revealed. My word…I'm starting to sound like the intro to a bad TV show. Hooray!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Nineteen: A Change of Scenery**

The first thing Kurama noticed when he returned to consciousness, other than the fact that he hadn't been reduced to cinder, was that he was not lying on the cold stone of a temple, but rather was face first in dirt. As he rose and dusted himself off, he took a good look at his surroundings, which was the middle of a forest with rays of sunlight penetrating the trees from above.

_'Well…this is abnormal…'_ he commented inwardly. _'Well, I'm sure the others can fill me in on what happened.'_

Closing his eyes, Kurama attempted to reach out with his spirit energy and search for the familiar energy patterns of his companions. However, not only was he unable to locate them, he was unable to sense anything at all. He tried again, this time with a little more effort, but still he had the same result. After a few more moments of stubborn trying, Kurama was utterly horrified to come to the only conclusion he possibly could: he could no longer use his spirit energy.

_'But this is impossible…' _he thought, still hardly believing it. _'Maybe I am in some sort of barrier that suppresses spirit energy. Yes, that must be it.'_

He walked forward through the forest, attempting to find whatever the source of his problem was, refusing to believe it was anything but a temporary inconvenience. After a few minutes, he came out of the forest and found himself at the top of a hill, staring out at a city. There was his answer.

_'There were no cities this large in the feudal era, and that architecture resembles that of the later part of the nineteenth century, the Meiji period, I believe…'_ he noticed, drawing on the incredible wealth of historical knowledge he possessed. _'I don't believe it…I've been sent through time. No, not just time, but space as well. This looks like Kyoto.'_

With the oddity of the situation increasing with each moment, the fox demon decided it best to sit down and asses the situation.

_'Let's see…Naraku interrupted the spell to send us through time at the last moment, so it follows that the Sacred Jewel would still be under the influence of the incomplete spell…'_ he surmised. _'And I suppose being sent through space as well makes relative sense. A blast of energy is hardly a stable way to transport something through time. But still, why can't I use my spirit energy?'_

Again, Kurama went over what had happened in his head. This time, though, he recalled what Naraku had said.

'_Of course! Naraku had no idea that it was a time traveling spell we were performing, he thought we had just made it stronger,'_ he remembered at last. _'When he sent that blast at me, he must have tried to infuse the jewel with destructive energy. However, the spell's energy must have been stronger, thus warping the destructive energy as it tried to fuse with the spell's energy. Instead of harming me personally, it ended up destroying the link between myself and my spirit energy. Yes…that would explain Youko's absence from my thoughts as well.'_

He ran through the theory a few more times in his head, for he did not want to come to a rash conclusion. However, it only seemed to make more sense with the more thought he gave it, and so it was confirmed. Of course, he also realized that this theory also meant that he was now stranded at some point in the Meiji era of Japan. This of course, could not be allowed to stand.

_'It appears that I shall have to try and look for another way back to my own time,'_ he decided, but as he began to walk down towards Kyoto, another thought occurred to him. _'Wait a moment…I may not be the only one that was sent to this time. I'll need to find anyone that was sent here as well. It would be inhumane to leave here without them…'_

Finding a path leading down from a nearby temple down into the city, Kurama followed it down towards the city, staring at the ground as he lost himself thinking about his possible courses of action. When Kurama had use of his sensing abilities, he would always be aware of his surroundings, even when thinking like this, but without them, he was as blind as any daydreamer. He found this out when something slammed into his left shoulder as it went speeding past, knocking him off balance and onto his posterior. Looking up at the path, he caught a glimpse of the offender: a young woman with a long braided ponytail racing up towards the temple steps with unusual haste.

"If you'd have looked where you were going, that wouldn't have happened!" she called back down at him unapologetically, though she did not stop her ascent.

_'At the pace she's going, you'd think the most important thing in the world is up there,'_ he thought as he stood and dusted himself off. _'Ah well, I can't waste time complaining about such things. I must begin my search.'_

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Unlike Kurama, Kuwabara did not have the luxury of waking up at his leisure. When he had been transported through time, he had ended up in someone's house. Specifically, he was in the bedroom of a woman who, as he would find out rather painfully, was very skilled at throwing heavy household objects. Once he had successfully fled out the bedroom window, he found himself in the middle of a large city, with the moon shining down from the sky above. If the incident in the bedroom had confused him, this left him utterly dumbfounded. He may not have had Kurama's historical knowledge, but he knew for sure that there were no full fledged cities in the feudal era, since he himself had been there. He was also not an expert on architecture, but one he didn't need to be to discern that these buildings were not from his time either.

Given enough time, Kuwabara may have eventually may have come to the same conclusions as to where and when he was as the fox demon, but fortunately for him, he was been spared the trouble when a newspaper flew into his face. At the top of the paper, among other things, were both the year, reading "11th year of the Meiji" and the name of the city that Kuwabara now found himself in: Tokyo. At this point, Kuwabara was more than just worried, in fact, he was completely panicked.

_'What in the hell is this year of the Meiji crap? What does that even mean, and how can this be Tokyo? I was at that stupid temple, not here! Where the hell is Kurama when you need him…'_ he thought in frustration. _'Wait! If Kurama was blasted with the same thing I was, then he should be here, too!'_

Like Kurama had done, Kuwabara tried to use his spirit energy to search his surroundings. Also like Kurama, he failed. He tried again, and when he failed a second time, he had a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Spirit Sword!" he said, trying to call forth his weapon desperately. "Aw come on! Spirit Sword! Spirit Sword! Damn it, why can't I use my spirit energy?"

Thankfully, no one had been around to see the young man or hear his ranting, for if they had, he surely would have been reported as insane. Confused, angry, and just a little scared, Kuwabara decided that there was only one thing he could do for the moment: sleep. So, after a couple minutes of searching, he found a completely vacant alley and tried to get some rest.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Luck was clearly not on the side of Kazuma Kuwabara. The vacated alley he had slept in also turned out to have a clear view of the eastern horizon as the sun rose the next morning, and as a result, Kuwabara was awoken by the rising sun after a mere five hours of sleep. With nothing else to do, the stranded Spirit Detective decided to wander the streets aimlessly, looking at how different this Tokyo was from the one he knew. For hours, he just walked around Tokyo, often finding himself going in a large circle since he truly had no idea where anything in the city was. Not surprisingly, he was generating a lot of curious stares from most everyone he passed. He _was_ a large, muscular, and shirtless teenager who was meandering around with the look of someone who had absolutely no idea where he was, after all.

After many hours, he finally saw something that made him stop wandering. It was a small shrine, which was unusual enough considering it was in the heart of the city, but that wasn't the part that intrigued Kuwabara. No, he was far more interested in the well-house, which was located a short distance away from a very large, very old tree.

_'This is Kagome's shrine! Well…I guess it isn't right now, but it will be eventually…' _he observed as he slowly began to walk up to the well-house and stare at it. _'Yeah! Me and Urameshi fought Inuyasha here, then we chased him and Kagome to the feudal era with that gate…'_

Suddenly, his train of thought stopped dead in its tracks as he recalled him and his teammates traveling through time. The memory triggered a sudden and brutal realization.

_'I'm stuck here in this time forever…'_ he realized, his body frozen in horror. _'I'll never be able to see anyone I've ever known ever again. Not Urameshi, not my sister and not…not Yukina…'_

He suddenly felt very weak, and leaned forward against the well-house wall for support.

_'Well, maybe Kurama is around here somewhere, so at least I'll have some company,'_ hoped the boy, clinging to the one sliver of his former life he may still have left. _'He's gotta' be somewhere in this time, he's gotta' be!'_

Now that he had at least found a temporary purpose for himself, he was able to lift himself from the well-house wall and walk away from the shrine. As he walked, though, he couldn't help but feel depression bear down upon him. It could not be helped. His situation was beyond bleak. After a short while of walking with his gaze fixated on the ground in front of him, he heard the sounds of someone whose situation may be even bleaker.

"Please, stay away from me!" came a female's voice from up ahead.

"Aw, now that's not a very nice way to treat a person," responded a male voice with a sinister tone twisting the seemingly polite words.

Kuwabara's head snapped upwards at the sounds, and spotted the source just outside a restaurant up ahead. A trio of men wearing blue uniforms, swords at their sides, and wolfish grins were crowding around a young woman who had her back up against a wall and a terrified look on her face. He temporarily forgot his woes when he sighted the young woman's predicament, suddenly placing her troubles before his own.

_'Guess no matter what time you're in, there are still plenty of creeps,'_ commented Kuwabara inwardly, and began to race forward.

As he approached the three hoodlums, he quickly snatched a broom from a woman who had just stepped out from the restaurant to check on the commotion with a rushed "Thanks, lady!" as he passed. He quickly removed the straw from the broom, leaving only the wooden shaft, and then squared off while facing the ruffians, holding the wooden stick in a two handed sword fighting stance.

"That's not how a real man is supposed to treat a lady, you ugly dirt-bags," he stated loudly, causing all three swordsmen to turn their heads.

"We can treat women however we want, _boy_," replied the apparent ringleader of the three, who was ironically the ugliest as well, mostly due to a very large nose that was in serious need of trimming. "We represent the government, so whatever we do is perfectly justified."

"I don't care who you represent, you just look like a bunch of wimps to me," retorted Kuwabara, smirking as the faces of the swordsmen suddenly became more angry.

_'I wonder how much strength I'll have without my spirit energy,'_ pondered Kuwabara as his new opponents spouted threats and unsheathed their blades. _'Only one way to find out, I guess…'_

The ringleader charged first, blade raised above his head in preparation for a downward strike. Kuwabara never gave him a chance to bring the blade down, taking one step to the side before charging while swinging the broom pole horizontally at the ruffian's head. It made contact with a loud thwacking sound and essentially had the effect of a clothesline on the man, with the end result being him lying on the ground, unconscious.

With the fall of their ringleader, the other two charged together, one swinging downward and the other horizontally. Kuwabara handled the attack easily, smacking the flat of the downward swinging blade with the broom pole so it fell harmlessly to his left, and then ducking the horizontal swing before countering by swinging the broom pole upwards into the mans chin, shattering his jaw. The last man standing tried to raise his sword again, but Kuwabara simply brought down his improvised sword down onto the small of the man's back, flattening him.

'_Huh, I guess my body is stronger than I thought. That was a piece of cake,'_ remarked Kuwabara to himself as he dropped the broom pole and turned to ask the young woman he had rescued if she was all right.

However, the young woman was no longer against the wall, she was hastily heading down the street, as though she was terribly afraid of something. Kuwabara didn't need to wonder for long about what it was that she was afraid of, because the hoofs of several horses could be heard trotting behind him. Turning around, he saw four mounted swordsmen ridding slowly towards him before coming to a halt several yards away. Kuwabara was quick to notice that they wore the same garments as the three he had just knocked out.

"You there! Are you the one who has assaulted these officers of the law?" inquired one of the four demandingly.

"Wait, these guys are cops? Since when did you let jerks like these guys become cops?" shot back Kuwabara before he could stop himself.

The officer looked like he was about to yell at the boy when a man stepped in between them. He was small compared to Kuwabara, both in height and build, with long red hair fashioned into a ponytail. However, he had a sword sheathed at his side and wore a purple and white garb that turned on a light in Kuwabara's brain that instantly signaled "samurai". This image was only furthered by the cross shaped scar that Kuwabara caught a glimpse of on the man's left cheek.

"Those officers were threatening a young woman," stated the man calmly to the officer. "This young man was only acting in her defense, that he was."

"You dare defend this man? How da-" bellowed the officer down at the red haired samurai, but he was cut off by one of the men to his right, who had been looking carefully at the samurai for a few moments before his eyes doubled in diameter with shock.

"Are you nuts? Do you know who that is?" asked the man in a panic to his superior, who shook his head. "Look at the cross-shaped scar on his left cheek! That's Kenshin Himura!"

The panicked officer then whispered something into his superior's ear that made his jaw hang slack in astonishment. Kuwabara simply watched with confusion, really only partially sure of what was going on.

"I-I'm sorry Mr. Himura, sir," apologized the officer almost pleadingly. "I-I was just…I…"

"It is perfectly all right, officer," replied Himura with a kind smile that really didn't match the fear on the officer's face at all. "You were just doing your job by asking questions, that you were."

With a few more hasty apologies, the four mounted officers gathered their fallen comrades off of the ground and left as quickly as possible, at which point the crowd that had gathered dispersed as well. That is to say, most of the crowd did, anyway. Three people aside from the samurai and Kuwabara remained standing outside the restaurant. The other three walked up to the samurai, apparently friends of his. One was a boy of no more than eleven with messy hair and a wooden sword strapped to his back. Another was a young woman with a pink bow adorning her hair and wearing a purple kimono. The last one was a tall man wearing a black and white outfit that was capped off with a long red headband below a messy hairdo that for some odd reason reminded Kuwabara of a rooster.

"Hey, that was a nice whooping you gave those slimes," complimented the tall man to Kuwabara with a nod.

"Yeah, I bet they're going to be pretty embarrassed after being beaten up by a guy with a stick," added in the small boy with a grin.

"Uh, thanks…" replied Kuwabara, still trying to process what had just happened.

"Yeah, that was really impressive," added the woman, though she raised a curious eyebrow as she inspected Kuwabara. "Although, I have to ask, why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

"Oh…well, it kinda' got…ruined," answered Kuwabara, realizing that saying it was disintegrated by a massive wave of demonic energy would come across as more than a little insane.

"Don't you have more than one shirt?" asked the small boy skeptically.

"Not really…" responded Kuwabara, scratching the back of his head with embarrassment, and then, anticipating the next question, continued. "And I don't really have any money, so I can't exactly go an' buy one."

"So you're homeless, then?" guessed the tall one unceremoniously, drawing a small glare from the woman.

Kuwabara again scratched the back of his head and shuffled his feet in embarrassment. Though the tall man was essentially right, Kuwabara didn't really want to parade this fact around, because inevitably it would lead to him coming off as a beggar, and begging was something that Kuwabara's pride would never allow.

"Look, thanks for stepping in there…Mr. Himura, right?" said Kuwabara hastily, avoiding confirming the tall man's conjecture. "But I've gotta' go…"

"If you have no money, than you must be in need of food as well," surmised Kenshin with a smile, clearly seeing right through Kuwabara, "We were just about to go have lunch, perhaps you could join us?"

"Thanks, but I don't need any handouts," replied Kuwabara, quickly turning to leave. "Thanks again."

Kuwabara's exit, however, was cut short when his stomach decided that this was the ideal time to let out a loud growl. Red with embarrassment, Kuwabara turned around and smiled awkwardly.

"Well, on second thought…"


	21. Chapter Twenty: Adapting to Circumstance

**To the readers/reviewers:** As usual, I appreciate the contued support you guys are giving this fic. I am also glad to see that you seem to have accepted Rurouni Kenshin as the third crossover, as I had a small amount of doubt concerning how well I pulled off the transition. However, with the addition of RK as the third series in this fic, some explaining is in order.

The point in the RK timeline that this fic occurs is immediately after the Kyoto/Shishio story arc, which would be about the end of May, 1878. I am going to assume that a fairly large amount of time passes between that point, and the beginning of the next story arc (that being either the Religion/Shougo arc if you're going by the anime, or the Revenge/Einishi arc if you're going by the manga), as the end of the series takes place in the beginning of autumn. Ah, but wait, there's more! I had said earlier that I would use the English versions as a basis for names, attacks, etc., but with RK, there is one word that I just _had_ to make an exception for, because it is so wonderful. Well, that about covers everything, so without further technical mumbo-jumbo, here's the next chapter!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Twenty: Adapting to Circumstance**

Thankfully for Kuwabara, the woman whom he had grabbed the broom from at the door to the restaurant also happened to be its owner, named Tae according to Kenshin, and decided to allow him to eat in the restaurant despite his lack of proper attire due to his display of valor. After a slew of compliments to Kuwabara from the patrons that had witnessed the fight outside, the group took their seats and placed their order, which Kuwabara did not give input on as he felt he had no right to do so without paying for any of it.

"Hey, you don't know any of our names but Kenshin's yet, do you?" began the small boy, jabbing his thumb at his chest with pride before indicating towards the others. "The rooster-head over here is Sanosuke, the ugly girl is Kaoru an-"

The boy was cut short when the young woman, Kaoru, slammed her fist into the back of his head, causing it to ricochet off the table rather harshly.

"And the ungrateful _brat_ is Yahiko," finished Kaoru, still glaring at the boy as he rubbed both injured parts of his head and grumbled.

"Uh…nice to meet ya'…" responded Kuwabara a little hesitantly. "I'm Kazuma Kuwabara, but you can just call me Kuwabara."

"What, ya' don't like your name or something weird like that?" Sanosuke inquired rather skeptically, clearly still thinking Kuwabara was a little strange.

"No…it's just that no one ever really uses it…" replied Kuwabara, fidgeting a little. "Well…no one except my sister…and…"

Kuwabara did not have to say the name of the other person who called him Kazuma, however, for it was at this moment that Tae returned with their food, and everyone was momentarily distracted as they began to dig in. As Kuwabara desperately struggled not to just bury his face in the food and scarf down as much as he could, though, he noticed Kenshin giving him a knowing look.

"Your sister, she is not in Tokyo with you, then?" asked the swordsman, although the look on his face old Kuwabara he already knew the answer.

"No…" answered Kuwabara as he swallowed a mouthful of food, quickly trying to think about how he could explain his situation. "I…uh…haven't really seen her in a long time. I don't really think I'll ever see her again."

"Have you tried to find her?" Kenshin continued with his questions, though he did so empathetically.

"I've kinda' given up," stated Kuwabara, talking slowly so that he didn't say anything he shouldn't. "She's probably real far way by now anyway. I dunno'."

"Man, how'd you get yourself into such a crummy situation?" asked Sanosuke, slightly muffled by the beef he had stuffed in his mouth.

"Sanosuke!" chided Kaoru with a glare in the tall man's direction. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to, Ka- I mean Kuwabara."

"No, it's OK," dismissed Kuwabara, taking another bite of food before continuing. "Ya' see…I was kinda' part of this…special team. Whenever there was a really big baddy that needed to get his butt kicked, they'd call us."

"Wow! Like some kind of special forces unit?" interrupted Yahiko excitedly.

"Yeah…somethin' like that," Kuwabara replied before continuing. "Anyway, we were on a special mission, and things went bad. Things got all crazy, and somehow, I ended up here in Tokyo, and I have no idea where the rest of my team is."

"Can't you just go back to the government?" Yahiko queried as though the answer was obvious.

"Well…not really. We're kinda' not…um…we're sorta'…well, we're not exactly with the government, exactly," answered Kuwabara with much hesitation, scratching the back of his head as he realized he should not have let the conversation get this far. "I really shouldn't say anything else about it."

Everyone gave an understanding nod and returned to their food, although Yahiko gave less of a nod and more of a disappointed slumping of the shoulders. For a short time, the focus became on the food in front of them as a three way battle for a particular large piece of beef broke out between Kaoru, Yahiko, and Sanosuke's chopsticks, with Kuwabara just barely restraining himself into neutrality. In the end, Sanosuke was the victor, and, with the beef no longer distracting her, Kaoru snapped her fingers and turned to Kuwabara.

"Oh! I almost forgot to ask," she stated. "What style do you use?"

"Uh…" came Kuwabara's clueless response with an equally clueless stare.

"Your sword-fighting style," clarified Kaoru. "What is it? I didn't recognize it when you fought."

"Um…style? There are styles?" responded Kuwabara blinking in bewilderment.

Upon hearing this everyone present reacted in absolute shock. Sanosuke started to gag slightly on his food, Yahiko went slack jawed as his left eyebrow began to twitch slightly and Kaoru almost fell backwards. Even Kenshin, who had been very polite thus far to Kuwabara, was giving the young orange haired man a bug-eyed look.

"Let me get this straight…" began Kaoru once she had regained her balance. "You're telling me, that you were part of some special forces team and just beat up three trained police swordsmen up with a broom, but you haven't even been trained in a style?"

"Uh…yeah?" Kuwabara replied sheepishly, truly unsure why everyone was looking at him so strangely.

"Being self taught is very uncommon, but not unheard of," commented Kenshin, having regained his composure. "However, if I am correct, you are not so much self taught, but are more simply relying on natural ability. That you can rely on this natural ability alone and be as skilled as you are is most unusual, that it is."

"Is that good or bad?" Kuwabara asked, still very perplexed by everyone's reaction.

"That's not just good, that's incredible!" Kaoru exclaimed. "As Assistant Master of the Kamiya Kasshin Style, it would be almost criminal for me not to offer you this: how would you like to learn swordsmanship at my dojo?"

For a moment, Kuwabara just stared at the young woman blankly before cocking his head to the side slightly and blinking as if he was trying to get a different view of her.

"Wait…_you_ teach swordsmanship?" he said finally.

"What's that supposed to mean?" spat back Kaoru angrily, suddenly looking very menacing, even with the bow in her hair. "Did you think that just because I'm a woman that I couldn't know swordsmanship? Is that what you're saying?"

"No, no!" denied Kuwabara fervently, shrinking away from the enraged woman, but after a moment, his honesty got the best of him. "Well…sorta'."

At this point, Kaoru was positively fuming. The other three occupants of the table recognized the look and quickly shifted away from her almost instinctively. Kuwabara, now panicking, began to plead very rapidly.

"Wait! That's not what I meant! I mean, most swordsme- I mean swords-people don't wear pretty dresses or pretty bows," he stammered as Kaoru raised her fist threateningly at him. "You know, most swords-people don't usually wear pretty things like your dress or your bows. Did I mention that those were pretty?"

"He does have a point, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin added on Kuwabara's behalf. "You must admit, one would not assume you were a fighter at first glance."

"Yeah, cut him a little slack, little missy," concurred Sanosuke. "You at least have to give him credit for the begging."

After all three men received a glare that clearly said they would not be spared after this one time, Kaoru sat back down in her seat and resumed a calmer demeanor.

"Anyway, I believe you should accept Miss Kaoru's offer," advised Kenshin once the threat had passed. "She is an excellent teacher, and you would surely benefit from her training, that you would."

"Um, you know I can't pay for anything like that," Kuwabara explained, racking his brain for an excuse.

"That is true…" agreed Kaoru, but then sighed in despair. "But at this point, I can't really be picky about things like that. After all, I only have one student at the moment; so really, I'll take anyone with potential. I'd even let you live t the dojo if you had to."

"Well…let me think about it," replied Kuwabara. "I've got to figure some things out."

With the jury now temporarily out on that subject, everyone went back to the remainder of their meal. There was conversation about various things, but Kuwabara neither paid much attention to them, nor did he participate. He had far too much to think about.

_'That would be pretty cool to learn swordsmanship, and it would give me something to do if I really am stuck here forever,'_ he thought, weighing the offer he had been given before considering his other options. _'But what about Kurama? If he's here somewhere, maybe he could find a way for us to get back home…'_

This debate raged on in the young man's head all the way through the remainder of the meal, but when the food had disappeared and the bill had been paid, there was no clear victor. He was just as unsure about what to do next as he had been at the well house earlier in the day.

"So, how about it, Kuwabara?" asked Kaoru once the group had said farewell to Tae and exited the restaurant. "Have you thought about my offer for long enough?"

"Huh? Oh yeah…" the large boy responded, stalling for a few moments' more time. "OK, how about this: I'll stay and train with you tomorrow. I should know what I wanna' do by then."

"Great! We'll head over to the dojo now and find a place for you to get some rest," Kaoru exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement, and turned to walk down the road before calling back over her shoulder. "Yahiko, Sanosuke, go do today's errands for me so I can show Kuwabara the dojo, will you?"

So, the group split up into a trio and a pair, with such terms as "slave driver" and "lazy raccoon girl" being muttered by the pair as they left to perform their assigned tasks. For a short time, the remaining three were silent as they walked towards the dojo that would be Kuwabara's new home, at least temporarily. However, there was something bugging Kuwabara that he felt compelled to know about.

"Hey, Kenshin, how come those cop guys listened to you when you told them to lay off?" he asked out of the blue, catching Kenshin slightly off guard.

"Oro?" replied Kenshin rather quizzically.

"I mean..." began to continue Kuwabara before registering exactly what the red haired swordsman had just said. "Wait…what the hell was that?"

"Oro?"

"_That_! What in the hell _is_ that? Is that even a real word?"

"Oro?"

"Stop doing that!"

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Eventually, Kuwabara had given up on trying to reason with Kenshin regarding "oro", but thanks to this distraction, he never received an answer to his previous question. In fact, he himself had forgotten about it by the time they reached the Kamiya Dojo. As he had been shown his room, he had taken in the dojo grounds, which he had to admit were far better than expected. In the Tokyo he knew, one would have to be either incredibly rich or have had the land in the family for generations to have such a large piece of land. Of course, most families eventually gave in to the massive offers real estate entrepreneurs would give to them, leaving only a small handful left that retained their land, such as Kagome's family.

Even his room seemed larger than the one he had back in his home in the modern era, although that may have been because of the lack of his always scattered personal effects. To further his opinion of the facilities, he was shown a rather appealing looking bath house, which, to the relief of his hostess, he quickly made use of. Truthfully, though he smelled fairly offensive, he wasn't nearly as filthy as one would expect from spending such a long time without bathing in the wilderness fighting demons. It was only after he had finished bathing and saw what clothes were laid out for him that he had his first negative thought about the place.

_'Just great…'_ he thought unenthusiastically as he picked up the wide, almost skirt-like, light blue hakama pants up and examined them. _'They're makin' me wear a dress.'_

However, realizing that he really had no choice in the matter, Kuwabara clothed himself what he assumed was the Kamiya Dojo's training uniform despite the pants' unwanted qualities and exited the bathhouse. As he was on his way back to the main building though, he was spotted by Sanosuke, who was quick to notice the boys apparent awkwardness in his new outfit.

"Not used to wearing that samurai stuff, huh?" commented the tall man with a chuckle as he chewed on a fish bone that was hanging out of his mouth. "Can't blame ya'. I wouldn't be caught dead in that stuff, myself."

"I kinda' figured that," replied Kuwabara as he allowed himself to smirk as he noticed the symbol for "bad" on the back of Sanosuke's shirt. "What's up with the symbol, anyway? That your nickname or somethin'?"

"Maybe if you decide to stick around, I'll tell you sometime," answered Sanosuke flippantly before walking off towards the main building. "But for now, I'm takin' a nap."

With nothing to do until dinner and lacking any company, Kuwabara decided to go explore the dojo. Since it was a dojo for training in the art of swordsmanship, he figured that there were at least some cool swords he could go check out. However, after exploring most of the grounds, he came up empty handed. Even the actual training area, which was the most interesting place on the compound in his mind, was simply stocked with wooden swords, which Kuwabara assumed were for practice purposes. It was as he exited the training room that he ran into Kenshin, who was carrying a stack of firewood.

"Having a look around, are you?" greeted Kenshin with a smile.

"Yeah," confirmed Kuwabara, following in step with Kenshin, having concluded his self-guided tour. "Hey, d'ya know where they keep the swords in this place? I haven't really seen any."

"Oh you won't find any real swords in the Kamiya Dojo, that you won't," clarified Kenshin. "Students of the Kamiya Kasshin style use wooden swords because the style forbids them to use it to kill."

"What? That's nuts!" Kuwabara blurted. "How the heck can you fight a guy with a wooden sword if he has a real one? That's just stupid."

"A wooden sword may have its disadvantages, but the avoidance of death is a noble goal, that it is," replied the red-haired swordsman calmly as though he had expected just that reaction. "Besides, didn't you yourself use a broom in such a situation today?"

"That doesn't count. Those guys were a bunch of wimps. I'm talking about if you're fighting someone that's tough," Kuwabara clarified, dismissing Kenshins example with a wave. "I mean, you look like a guy that's been in some real life or death fights, right? Sometimes, it's either you, or the other guy. Someone has to bite the dust, ya know?"

"I understand where you are coming from, that I do," said Kenshin patiently, setting down the firewood next to several other stacks against the bathhouse wall and taking a seat on the porch nearby. "In fact, there was a time when I used to think as you do, that killing was sometimes the only way a situation could be ended."

Kuwabara stayed silent, realizing that now he was about to get the answer that he had not received on the way to the dojo. Taking a seat next to Kenshin, he watched the swordsman as he gazed outward, recalling events of the past.

"You asked earlier why those policemen listened to me when I told them to stop. The answer to that question goes back to over a decade ago," Kenshin began. "During the Meiji Revolution, I fought on the side of the Imperialists, the group that now controls the country. I killed many people for them in the name of equality and justice during that war, and I was soon well known for my talents in this respect. Now, each day, I am trying to repent for those lives that I have taken, that I am."

With that, Kenshin suddenly unsheathed the sword that was sheathed at his side and offered its hilt towards Kuwabara. The boy grasped the hilt, a little nervous, and examined the blade. What he saw was astonishing to him. The sword was everything that one would expect, save one detail: the blade was reversed, so that on what would normally be the cutting edge of the weapon, there was just blunt metal.

"I get it…" spoke Kuwabara finally. "You use this sword so that you don't kill people when you fight them, even though it's made out of metal."

"Yes, that sword cannot kill anyone, that it can't," confirmed the samurai. "Instead, I use that sword to protect people without ending the life of another. Miss Kaoru and others who use the Kamiya Kasshin Style may have wooden swords instead of reverse-blade swords, but the philosophy that they use is the same as mine, that it is."

Kuwabara returned the reverse-blade sword back to its owner, who promptly sheathed it. However, the ex-Spirit Detective said nothing, as he was still trying to fully process what had just been said to him.

"Now then, I have to go make dinner for tonight," stated Kenshin as he rose to depart. "You should go get some rest, Kuwabara. I suspect that Miss Kaoru will have some very difficult training for you tomorrow, that she will."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

The next morning, Kuwabara immediately received the unexpected, that being a wakeup call. Still hazy from sleep, he had wrapped himself up in his covers mumbling about not wanting to go to school until Kaoru abandoned simply rapping on his door and tried the same process with his skull. Needless to say, this put the boy in a sour mood as he ate breakfast, frequently pointing out that the sun was barely up itself. Nonetheless, he did eventually run out of food to eat, and was forced to drag himself over to the training room where Kaoru was already waiting.

"Say, where's the little guy?" asked Kuwabara with a yawn. "Isn't he your student, too?"

"Yes, but Yahiko is going to be allowed to train on his own today," replied Kaoru as a smirk graced her lips. "Since this is your first lesson, I'm going to put all of my attention on you."

"Whatever," Kuwabara mumbled, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "So, what first?"

"Well, you've obviously seen your share of combat, so we can skip some of the initial non-combat lessons and get right to practicing sword technique. However, we'll start with the basics in that respect," explained Kaoru, picking up a wooden sword and tossing it to Kuwabara. "First, I just want you to start with a standard vertical cut."

Scoffing, Kuwabara quickly placed the sword in both hands, raised it high above his head and brought it down until it almost hit the dojo floor. He was promptly smacked over the head with a wooden sword.

"Ow! What the hell was that for? I did what you asked me to!" roared Kuwabara, suddenly very awake and very angry.

"That was some of the laziest technique I've ever seen," stated Kaoru simply, placing her wooden sword over her shoulder. "You brought the sword way too high over your head, followed through on the swing far too much, and your feat weren't in the proper position."

Seeing that Kuwabara was blinking rather dumbly at her analyses, the Assistant Master sighed heavily and demonstrated. Unlike Kuwabara's swing, hers was much shorter in length, raising the blade just above her head and bringing it quickly down before stopping it at chest level, with the blade pointing straight out at a perfect perpendicular angle to her body. In addition, her feet had been shoulder-width apart when she started, with her right foot slightly in front of her left one, another thing that differed from Kuwabara's swing.

Grumbling, Kuwabara attempted to mimic what he had just seen. Again, he was smacked on the head with Kaoru's wooden sword.

"Straighten your back more."

Smack!

"Your stance is too narrow."

Smack!

"You're still raising your sword too high."

"All right, that's it!" bellowed Kuwabara, absolutely livid with anger. "You saw me yesterday, you know I don't need to do this stupid kiddy crap! Hell, I bet I'm better than _you_ are!"

Kaoru just stared at him for a moment as he smirked triumphantly at her. Surely, he had to be right. After all, he had taken down scores of demons in life or death fights. In his mind, there was no way a young woman who only used a wooden sword could be his equal.

"Why don't you prove that then?" said Kaoru finally and positioned herself several paces in front of Kuwabara. "If you beat me, we can skip the basics and move on to advanced techniques. If I win, then you have to do that vertical cut the whole day until you get it absolutely flawless."

"Fine by me," agreed Kuwabara with a chuckle. "You won't know what hit ya'."

Wordlessly, Kaoru set herself in a balanced fighting stance, wooden sword held at the ready with both hands. Not wasting any time, Kuwabara quickly charged her with a furious battle cry, holding the sword to his side with the tip of the weapon pointing towards his opponent. When he reached striking distance, however, he did not thrust it forward as his stance indicated he would, but rather spun around to his left, slashing horizontally as he did so.

The maneuver failed utterly, for all that Kaoru had to do to avoid it was hop backwards slightly, leaving Kuwabara's back completely exposed for a retaliatory strike. All Kaoru did to finish the match was step swiftly forward and bring her wooden sword down onto the back of Kuwabara's neck. Since he was off balance due to his wild swing, this was enough to cause Kuwabara to fall onto the dojo floor.

"You're fast and strong, but your technique is terrible, which made your attack easy to predict and avoid," chided Kaoru as Kuwabara growled in frustration and stood up off of the ground "Your physical ability has probably been enough to let you beat everyone you've ever faced before, but the moment you fight someone who has superior technique, it will end exactly like that just did."

_'If I could use my spirit energy, lady, my strength and speed **would** be enough to beat you,'_ thought Kuwabara as he grunted an acknowledgement, deeply thankful that no one had seen what had just happened.

Granted, the blow hadn't hurt him that much at all, but in a one hit duel, that was irrelevant to the outcome. Knowing this only made his loss all the more frustrating.

"Now then, let's get started on that cut of yours."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Several hours later, Kuwabara finally exited the training room with two incredibly sore arms and a newfound appreciation for vertical cut technique. He made it all the way to the porch outside his room when he was forced to sit down out of exhaustion.

_'Holy crap, how can something that simple be so hard?'_ thought Kuwabara. _'I guess it's gotta' work though. I mean, she did beat me in that duel thingy. I bet if I stayed here and trained, I'd become a real badass with a sword. Yeah, and when I can use my spirit energy again, I'll be invincible! That is…if I ever can use it again…'_

Thinking about spirit energy turned the boy's thoughts to the reason why he had been hesitant about staying at the Kamiya Dojo in the first place. That is, the question of whether or not he should go looking for Kurama or anyone else who may have been hit by Naraku's attack. After a few minutes of pondering this, he finally reached a decision.

_'If Kurama is here in this time, then he's probably looking for anyone else that might be here, too,'_ he reasoned. _'And since he's probably better at finding people than I am in this time, being a genius and all that stuff, he's got a better chance of finding me than I do at finding him. Plus, I'd be easier to find if I just stayed here instead of wandering all over Japan.'_

"The slave driver gave you a good beating, huh?" noted Yahiko, who shouldered his practice sword and walked over towards Kuwabara, who just nodded, breathing heavily. "Don't tell me that you're gonna' give up already? You aren't even done with your first day yet."

"Not a chance," answered Kuwabara quickly, grinning at the small boy. "If that chick can become as good as she is with this Kamiya Kasshin thing, then I bet I can become almost invincible with it."

"Invincible, huh? Nah, I'm the only one that's becoming invincible with the Kamiya Kasshin Style," retorted Yahiko confidently as he stared down at his new peer.

_'Well, the good news is that the guys that live here are all right,'_ noted Kuwabara as he chuckled at Yahiko's challenge. _'Who knows? I might even have fun here.'_

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**Note:** Yes, I am aware that many of our heroes/heroines have now been MIA for two chapters of this fic, but have no fear folks, they _will_ return in the coming chapters of this fic. Patience, as they say, is a virtue.


	22. Chapter Twenty One: Third Eye Blind

**To the readers/reviewers:** I'm back! I appreciate that you folks are still reading and reviewing this fic, because I'm really enjoying writing it thus far and it's good to see that people enjoy reading it. Granted, I'm sure some of you were disappointed with the previous chapter's Kuwabara-centricity, which is too bad because I'm fairly fond of the big oaf. Nonetheless, you guys are going to get your wish this chapter, because it heralds the return of everyone's favorite three-eyed, vertically challenged, homicidal fire demon. Enjoy!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Twenty-one: Third Eye Blind**

While Kurama and Kuwabara had been blessed with the good fortune of being near civilization during their arrival in the 11th year of the Meiji, Hiei had no such luck. He had awoken in the middle of a field with the sun beating down upon him and absolutely no semblance of where he was or how he was still in one piece. Gradually, he went through the same thought process that Kurama, and to some extent Kuwabara, had gone through, eventually coming to the conclusion that he had indeed been sent hurtling through time and space. He had also found out that he could no longer use his spirit energy, although his condition was somewhat different than his comrade's.

As the Jagan was entirely dependant on spirit energy for it to function, it simply refused to work at all now that its host could no longer use spirit energy. In fact, Hiei could not even get the lids of the third eye to open, and it remained sealed shut atop his forehead, looking like nothing more than a strange scar. Without being able to use the Jagan or his spirit energy, the first day of being trapped in the past had been a learning experience for the short fire demon. He had started out trying to travel at top speed until he found a village or city of some kind where he could get his bearings, but that didn't go so well. After what seemed to Hiei to be an extremely short amount of time, he had found himself gasping for air, and also found that he hadn't gone nearly as far as he had expected. Granted, any human would be awe stricken at his speed and stamina, but for Hiei, it was unusually poor.

After he had caught his breath, he had decided that it would be wise to test his physical limitations without his spirit energy, as it would be preferable not to be caught off guard by them a second time. After several hours of exercises in a nearby forest, he found that he retained a great deal of his speed and agility. However, his strength suffered slightly more than those other aspects, and his stamina, as he had found out earlier, was pitiful compared to what it had been before. Nonetheless, by human standards, Hiei was still quite an impressive specimen, although this fact really didn't improve his mood.

Feeling a little worn out from his work out, the demon had decided that it would be preferable to rest, as he would not want to encounter a fight in his weakened state. Upon awaking the next morning, Hiei then set out in a random direction on the first road he saw, with really no idea of where it was he wanted to go.

_'It's safe to assume that I am stuck in this wretched place,'_ he surmised as he walked down the road, using much restraint not to burst out into his usual sprint. _'I suppose there is a small chance of Kurama and the buffoon also being in this same time, but even if they are it makes no difference. Even Kurama could not possibly come up with a way to get back to our time. But wait…why do I even want to go back there?'_

Suddenly, Hiei realized that he truly didn't care that much about returning to his own time. Sure, Yukina was there, but he could safely assume that his sister would remain safe, seeing as all those who had ever meant her harm were now dead. Knowing that she was safe had always been enough for Hiei, and the same seemed to apply now, which really left absolutely no reason for Hiei to return to the present.

_'I may not be able to use my spirit energy yet, but if I can master the Jagan, than regaining my spirit energy will be easy for me with time,'_ he reasoned, suddenly feeling his mood lighten. _'And time I'll have now that I'm free of that damned Koenma sending me on his petty tasks. Without him, I can truly do as I please. Ha! Throwing myself in front of that blast may have seemed stupid at the time, but now it appears to be the best decision I've ever made!'_

However, thinking about the events that had put him in his current state of freedom caused him to recall the reason for his sudden burst of martyrdom, or, more specifically, the demon slayer whom he had supposedly saved. For just a moment, he felt regret creep up on him before roughly tossing that emotion aside.

_'Don't be a fool, you were about to leave her forever anyway, remember?'_ he reminded himself, shaking his head as if to get rid of such thoughts like they were something caught in his hair. _'No, this is for the best, for both parties.'_

For a long time, Hiei's mind was silent as he walked down the road. Eventually, though, he saw buildings begin to rise up from the horizon. Immediately, he realized that he was somewhere in between his own time and the feudal era, for these were neither the small huts or grand castles of the feudal era, nor were they the massive skyscrapers of his own time. Instead, they were somewhere in between and there were enough of them for Hiei to surmise that they were part of a major city. As he approached a gateway leading into the city, he not only confirmed his suspicions, but learned where exactly he was from a nearby sign: Osaka.

He began to walk the streets in search of more information that he could happen upon. After all, if he was going to be stuck in this time, then it would be advisable to know as much about it as possible. He turned a corner and suddenly found himself staring at five men all adorned in the same blue uniform, complete with cap, and all equipped with sabers. One of them spotted Hiei, and quickly he pointed him out to his fellows. Hiei kept on walking, not really caring about what the humans thought of him, but one of the men stepped in his path before he could leave their presence.

"Hey there little man, don't you know that it's illegal to wear a sword nowadays?" said the man condescendingly. "You better hand it over to me."

_'So they are the local law enforcement,'_ thought Hiei, grimacing. _'In my current condition, I'm not sure if I'd survive a manhunt, which would surely be what would happen if I killed a policeman. I'll have to stay non-lethal…for now.'_

"Hn, no one but me touches my sword, worm" the fire demon scoffed. "Now get out of my way before I _remove_ you from my way."

"What? How dare you talk to me like that, runt?" yelled the policeman in indignation. "Men, I think he's resisting arrest."

The other officers chuckled and all five drew their sabers as they encircled Hiei. To their shock, Hiei began to laugh.

"You fools, you know not who you are provoking," he said with a smirk. "A dozen of you could fight me and it would make no difference."

"We'll see!" retorted one officer from Hiei's left, and he charged, preparing to stab Hiei with his sword.

Hiei almost lazily jumped over the attack, rising so that his feat just cleared the man's head before slamming his left foot into the man's face. The officer was hurtled back into a wall with a thud, clearly unconscious. Now thoroughly enraged, all four officers began to attack Hiei at once with all manner of sword attacks. Hiei gracefully dodged each attack one by one, and after each successful dodge he let loose a powerful kick. Within seconds, all four officers had been sent flying by Hiei's retaliatory kicks, and now lay scattered about the street. Hiei made to walk away from the scene when he saw a new squad of policemen round the corner in front of him at a sprint, apparently having heard the commotion.

"You there! You are under arrest for the assault of policemen!" declared one, although the look on he and his comrades faces upon seeing the unconscious forms of their peers was more hesitant than the words.

"Don't be a fool. All of you together could not possibly handle him."

Hiei's eyes immediately darted towards the direction of the new voice, for it had a deadly calm to it. His eyes lead him to look at another police officer who was leaning against a shadowy wall nearby, where he had apparently watched Hiei brawl the first five officers, stamping out a cigarette. As he stepped out of the shadows, Hiei immediately realized that he was entirely different than the other officers. He was a tall, thin man, who, unlike the other officers, wore no cap, revealing slicked back hair similar to Yusuke's, although several strands remained hanging in front of his face, apparently purposefully, and he had the smallest of smirks on his face. However, these features were all secondary to one thing: his eyes. They were the piercing eyes of a seasoned warrior, and at this moment, they gave of the look of a hunter having spotted worthy game. In fact, one could say that they looked almost…evil.

"But…Lieutenant Fujita, sir…" stammered the officer, clearly not expecting the thin man to be there.

"Stay out of this fight," stated Fujita, addressing the officer while keeping his eyes on Hiei. "I'll handle this."

With that, Fujita unsheathed his sword, which was noticeably a katana, unlike the sabers of the other officers.

_'Without my spirit energy, this man will prove a challenge, even one on one,'_ surmised Hiei. _'This is a fight I should avoid for now.'_

"Hn, I have no time for these games," Hiei responded, and then promptly leapt onto the nearest roof top, though he had to use far more effort than he was used to.

After several more leaps to the tops of other nearby buildings, all of which were fortunately one story high, he finally stopped at the edge of one and looked behind him. He smirked as he judged the distance he had traveled. Though he was without his spirit energy, he judged that he was still far faster than those humans, who could never possibly catch up to him.

Suddenly, he thought he heard sudden movement from the street below, and turned just in time to see Fujita flying upwards at him, his sword ready to pierce right through Hiei. Fortunately, the nimble fire demon was able to shift away from the attack in time to save his life, but Fujita's katana was now in his left hand rather than his right, and thus was still able to clip Hiei's right shoulder with surprising force as the fire demon tried to dodge. The blow sent Hiei flying both off of his feet and the rooftop, and only through some impressive midair acrobatics was he able to land on his feet on the street below. Fujita quickly leapt down in front of Hiei, standing casually in front of the demon, though he had that same piercing look in his eye.

_'Impossible! How could he have kept up with me?'_ thought Hiei, bewildered.

"I'm glad you decided to run in this direction, this street is always empty," said Fujita coolly. "We can fight in earnest here."

"Hn, you seem to have a death wish, fool," spat Hiei, who, given no other choice, drew his sword. "I had hoped to avoid becoming a wanted man today, but if you're so desperate for me to kill you, than I'll just have to oblige."

With that, both warriors got into their fighting stances. Hiei held his sword out to his side horizontally with his right hand while his left hand hung at his side at the ready, but Fujita's stance was one Hiei had never seen before. His sword, held in his left hand, was positioned behind his body, with the blade side facing upwards, while his right hand was positioned right beside the sword's tip, making it look almost like he was drawing back a bow, and his legs were in such a position that it was obvious he was prepared to launch himself forward.

Hiei made the first move, charging right towards Fujita with all his speed. As expected, Fujita launched himself forward, again trying to skewer Hiei. However, Hiei had not expected such great speed from the man, and just narrowly avoided the attack as he rolled to his right and out of the way. His roll carried him to the wall of a building on the other side of the street, and he used it as a springboard to launch himself at Fujita, slashing horizontally as he approached. However, Fujita had seen the move coming, and leapt almost straight up into the air to avoid it.

Shocked that his opponent had so easily avoided his attack, Hiei looked up to see Fujita bearing down on him with the same stance he had just used a moment ago, but this time it was aimed downward at Hiei. Realizing he would have no time to dodge, Hiei leapt up to great his attacker, hoping to counter the attack with one of his own. Using his speed, Hiei used not just one attack on Fujita, but two. The first was an upward cut that was supposed to hit Fujita's blade and throw his attack off, and the second was be a diagonal cut downward that would, in theory, cut through Fujita's spine.

However, Hiei again underestimated the strength and speed of his opponent, for the first attack did not hit Fujita's sword with enough force. While it did change the attack's direction, Fujita's katana still bit into Hiei's side, leaving a bloody gash. This also caused Hiei's second swing to be thrown off, and, all he managed to do was leave a long, but extremely shallow cut down Fujita's back that really would amount to nothing more than a scratch. Hiei managed to land on his feet once he hit the ground, but he could not help but let out a grunt of pain. He knew he had gotten the worst of that exchange.

"You have talent that is rare in this Meiji era, I'll grant you that. Few people can survive the Gatotsu once, much less three times," said Fujita, switching his sword back to his right hand as both opponents turned to face each other. "But nonetheless, I advise you to surrender. You _will_ die if you continue to fight me."

"Hn, you scratch me a little and you think that I'll surrender? This fight is _not_ over…" retorted Hiei angrily. "You'll know it's over when you're in hell!"

With that, Hiei rushed the thin man, who was not in the stance he had been before. Thinking him off guard, Hiei let loose a flurry of furious attacks. However, each attack was successfully parried or dodged, which only made Hiei's attack increase in intensity. Fujita was on the defensive now, for Hiei's strikes weren't giving him any kind of room. Eventually, though, Fujita managed to force Hiei into a weapon's deadlock.

"Your speed is impressive, but I can read your every move," commented Fujita with a smirk as he used his height to his advantage and began to push Hiei backwards. "I could have killed you right then, if I so wished."

"Talk all you want, but action is all that matters," replied Hiei, who, not liking his odds if the deadlock continued, broke away from the struggle and leapt back several meters.

Suddenly, Fujita did something unexpected. He sheathed his sword. Puzzled though he was, Hiei did not drop his guard.

"As of now, you have three options," began Fujita coolly. "One: you try to attack me, I kill you. Two: you run away, all the police officers in the region, including myself, hunt you down and kill you. Three: you take the offer I am about to give you, you live.

"Hn, what could someone like you possibly be able to offer me?" scoffed Hiei, though a small voice in his head was telling him that listening to the offer was the best choice.

"A job," stated Fujita simply. "Skilled swordsmen are a rarity in this era, as you may have guessed from the fools that you embarrassed earlier. As such, the police will take anyone they can get their hands on, and yes, if beating up a few incompetents is all that you are wanted for, than your record will be wiped clean."

Hiei's eyes narrowed, trying to find some hint of deception in the man before him. He found none.

_'He is right about the manhunt, at least. Whether I kill him or simply flee, I will be forced on the run…'_ thought Hiei as he considered the offer given. _'And if I truly am stuck in this place forever, I'll need something to occupy myself with, if only until I am able to use my spirit energy again. Also, judging from the way this man fights, deadly force doesn't seem to be an issue for these policemen. I must admit…there doesn't seem to be anything distasteful about this offer on the surface.'_

"Before I accept, I need to be clear on my terms," answered Hiei at last, though he kept his sword at the ready. "If I don't like what it is you're having me do, I have to be able to leave with no manhunt."

"Of course," consented Fujita with a nod.

"Another thing," continued Hiei, suddenly remembering something. "I noticed that all the officers besides you use western sabers. I use my own sword, not some western garbage."

"If it were up to me, katanas would be the standard," Fujita responded with a knowing smile. "I'm sure we'll be able to work that out. Now then, are we agreed?"

Hiei slowly nodded, and sheathed his sword even slower. Fujita motioned for Hiei to follow, and the fire demon did so, although he remained behind the thin man and kept one hand on the hilt of his sword.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Upon arriving at Osaka Police Headquarters, Fujita, whose first name Hiei had learned was Goro, had directed Hiei to the medical wing to get his wounds patched up while Fujita filled out some paperwork that would officially make Hiei a policeman. Although Hiei knew that he would heal on his own fairly quickly, he didn't want to raise any suspicions. If the manhunt was going to be large if he killed a policeman, it would be positively massive if they found out he was a demon. Once his wounds had been treated, he exited the medical wing to find Fujita waiting for him, holding a police uniform in one hand and some papers in the other one. Hiei also noted that he had changed into a new jacket, though it was still of the same make as the one Hiei had sliced.

"It was difficult to find a uniform small enough for you," said Fujita with a smirk as he handed over the uniform, to which Hiei grunted in response. "I also neglected to mention earlier, but I will, of course, need your name."

"Hiei," answered the fire demon simply as he examined the police cap that came with the uniform.

"Excuse me if I don't find that amusing, but I'll need your _full_ name," Fujita demanded rather curtly.

"If it is a surname you are asking for, than your guess is as good as mine," Hiei replied in all seriousness.

"Well, you're certainly a strange little man, Hiei," stated Fujita with a chuckle. "If you have no surname, we'll just have to find one for you."

Fujita then pulled out a pen and wrote down what Hiei assumed was his new surname. However, Fujita said nothing.

"Well? What is it?" snapped Hiei impatiently.

"You are now Hiei Takahashi," answered Fujita as he began to walk off, presumably to finalize Hiei's enlistment. "You'll find a room where you can change into your uniform just down the hall."

The uniform, Hiei found, seemed to fit him just fine, leading Hiei to surmise that Fujita had unusual aptitude for judging distance. Of course, Hiei hadn't even bothered to try the cap on. Even if he could get his hair to cooperate enough for it to fit, it would look positively stupid on him. He also left his headband on, not wanting to risk any suspicion that might lead to the discovery of his Jagan. Fortunately, the changing room also had a small set of lockers, and he managed to find an empty one where he could store his other set of clothes, although they were so ragged and damaged now that he wasn't sure how much good they'd do him. After exiting the changing room, Hiei found Fujita waiting for him.

"So, what exactly is it that I'm supposed to do?" asked Hiei irritably, silently hoping that it involved some form of violence. "It had better be nothing trivial."

"Nothing I do is trivial," Fujita replied. "There are some arms dealers that have set up a small base just south of Osaka that may be connected to a certain incident just a short time ago. I'm going to go take them out. You can come as my backup."

"Hn, we'll see just who the backup is," scoffed Hiei, and followed Fujita as he made for the building's exit.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

By the time Hiei and Fujita arrived at the arms dealers' camp, night had fallen, and they only had the moon to go by as they looked down at their quarry from among the forest. It was what one might expect, a small group of tents accompanied by a large amount of crates arrayed along the bank of the bay. Hiei estimated that there were around forty men all told in the camp, and all were armed.

"What are we waiting for? These weaklings will be easy to kill," said Hiei in an impatient whisper.

"You're impatience is starting to irritate me," responded Fujita, and then pointed to one of the arms dealers. "You see that one with the gray hair that's holding the fan? He's the leader of this group, and I need him alive until I can question him."

"Hn, I won't kill the old one then," complied Hiei. "Now can we just get on with this?"

"Of course," replied Fujita simply, and then began to walk down towards the camp with Hiei following just behind him.

The pair walked casually down towards the camp, and as they approached, all the miscreants present were alerted of their presence and began to approach. By the time they had arrived in the camp, they were surrounded.

"Well, well, looks like a couple of stupid cops have dropped by for a visit," said one thug as he flicked his katana out of its sheath. "What's the deal, cops? Trying to get us to surrender peacefully?"

This triggered a round of snickering from all of the thug's comrades. Hiei remained silent, for he was just watching Fujita. He had that same predatory look in his eye that Hiei had seen earlier in the day.

"I'm afraid that you are not so lucky, no," answered Fujita, with a cold voice that immediately silenced any snickering that had been going on. "You see, it would be against my code to allow you scum to live."

"Your code? And just what kind of stupid code does an ugly son of a bitch like you have, huh?" retorted the thug, trying to avoid being rattled.

Suddenly, Fujita's eyes lit up, and if they had been predatory before they were positively wolfish now. Even Hiei was startled by the sudden change. Then, slowly and with great intensity, Fujita spoke.

"Slay…evil…immediately!"

With that, Fujita snapped down into his the stance he had used previously on Hiei, which the fire demon recalled as his "Gatotsu stance", and leapt forward at the thug who had been speaking.

"It can't be! It's Haj-" were the last words that the thug managed to say before Fujita's sword pierced him with such force that the man was thrown back into a stack of crates, dead before he hit the ground.

Instantly, Hiei followed Fujita's lead, and he too leapt into the crowd of terrified criminals, his sword tearing through flesh and bone like it was nothing at all. Together, they were a whirlwind of destruction, cutting down most of their adversaries before they even had a chance to react. Within a minute's time, all of their attackers were dead, and neither Fujita nor Hiei had a single wound to show for it. The only man left was the gray haired man that Fujita had identified as the leader of the group, who was cowering among a stack of crates.

"Now then," said Fujita, taking several menacing steps towards the man. "A man named Makoto Shishio recently purchased a battleship called the Rengoku and stored it in Osaka. You're going to tell me who sold it to him."

"It w-wasn't me! I swear!" stammered the terrified arms dealer. "It wasn't a local guy, either! It was someone else!"

"Surely, that's not all you know," persisted Fujita, grabbing the man by his color and picking him up of his feet.

"Wait! I heard a rumor that he wasn't even in Japan!" continued the arms dealer pleadingly. "They say he might have been a foreigner, maybe someone from China! That's all I know, I swear!"

"Good," stated Fujita, and then brought his sword's tip to rest against the arms dealer's throat.

"Wait! Aren't you going to show me mercy for helping you?" begged the man in fear.

"No," answered Fujita coldly, and then stabbed the man straight through the jugular.

"Well, it's good to see that you have no problem with killing," commented Hiei, smirking as Fujita wiped some the blood off of his face with a white gloved hand.

"As I told them, it would be against my code to let this cretin live," stated Fujita, flicking the blood off his sword and sheathing it.

'_Slay evil immediately…simple and deadly,'_ thought Hiei. _'I approve.'_

Unlike Fujita, Hiei did not simply flick the blood off of his sword before sheathing it. Walking over to one of the tents nearby, he used the cloth to carefully wipe it clean of blood, leaving it spotless before sheathing it. Noticing this, Fujita walked over and raised an eyebrow.

"That sword must be important to you," he commented as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it, though he drew nothing but a grunt from Hiei. "A gift from someone, perhaps?"

Hiei shot Fujita a threatening glare, suddenly very irritated with the man's perceptiveness.

"Yes, though that's none of your business," answered Hiei after a moment's pause as he continued to glare at Fujita, realizing that he would have trouble hiding anything from the man. "But as long as we're prying into each other's lives, I noticed that that thug was about to call you something else other than Goro Fujita. So, who are you really?"

"You don't strike me as the type of person who would use this against me, so I may as well just tell you," answered Fujita casually. "In public, I am Lieutenant Goro Fujita, but in private, you may know me as Hajime Saitou, ex-captain of the Shinsen Gumi's third squad."

"Hn, just the name would have sufficed," scoffed Hiei, confirming to Saitou that he had read the fire demon correctly. "I could care less about your past, I just dislike being deceived."

"That makes it simple then," concluded Saitou, shifting his cigarette so it hung casually at the side of his mouth.

With nothing more to be said, the two began the long walk back to Osaka. The only sounds that were emitted from them were the sound of their feet against the ground, and Saitou taking a long drag from his cigarette. This caused Hiei to smirk contentedly. It had been a long time since he had been among such silent company. On top of that, he had to admit that the fight with the arms dealers had been fairly entertaining, and Saitou's merciless justice was something that Hiei found quite refreshing from the usual restrictions that he had faced while working under Koenma.

'_I have a feeling that this occupation is going prove a most agreeable distraction until I can use my spirit energy again.'_

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**Note:** Yes, "Aku…Soku…Zan" does sound damned cool, and I actually did consider putting it in there in place of the translation. However, I decided to stick with my whole "keep in line with the English version in an English fic" rule (with the exception of that oh so wonderful non-word: oro) and went with the translation. Sorry if you're disappointed.


	23. Chapter Twenty Two: All Sorts of Trouble

**To the readers/reviewers:** Sorry about the wait for an update, but I've been quite busy recently, and it's cut into my writing time. Anyway I'm back now. I'm glad to see the support for this fic, even though many of the characters are AWOL at the moment (they will be back soon, don't worry). That last chapter, for example, only had two main characters in it, Saitou and Hiei, which almost prompted me to call it "Badass x 2!" Anyhow, here comes the next chapter. Zing!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Twenty-two: All Sorts of Trouble**

For three days, Kurama had scoured the city of Kyoto looking for absolutely any information he could find on either whether any of his companions had been sent to this era with him, or on any means he could find to get back to his own time. For the latter, he had found less than nothing, he couldn't even think of where to begin to look for such a thing. On the former, his luck was slightly better in the sense that he at least knew how to go about searching for anyone that had been flung into this era with him. Unfortunately, that still wasn't going very well.

The first place he had tried asking was the local police station, but he had been informed that finding missing persons was an almost non-existent priority, at least for those without either a wealth of money or status. The next logical place to ask around, he figured, was the local bars. Even in this era, that was where all the gossip took place. At least, that's what Kurama was hoping. However, after three days of asking Kyoto bartenders, he was beginning to think that this was a very poor theory. Spotting a bar that he hadn't been to yet, he decided to try his luck at least until he could come up with a better plan.

Since it was midday, the bar was mostly empty save a drunk in the corner and the bartender, who looked incredibly bored with his elbows resting on the counter. Kurama approached the man and sat down in front of him, catching his attention.

"Can I get you somethin'?" asked the bartender standing up fully and stretching out his back a little.

"Yes, but I'd prefer information rather than alcohol," answered the fox coolly. "Tell me, where does one go in this city if they want someone or something found."

"Well, if you're rich, you go to the police," replied the bartender, clearly pleased that he both had something interesting to talk about _and_ didn't need to work at the same time. "But if you're not…well, then you need someone else."

"Meaning…?" prodded Kurama, not letting his hopes get up.

"Well, this is just a rumor…but some smart people I've talked to seem damned sure that it's true," began the bartender, lowering his voice despite the fact that only the drunk could possibly hear them, and he'd soon pass out and forget about it. "They say that the Oniwaban ninjas are back."

"And just who are they?" inquired Kurama, though his knowledge of history made him think that he recognized the name from Meiji Revolution, though the name was all he remembered.

"Heh, guess you're not as smart as you look. OK, I'll tell you who they are," continued the barkeep jokingly. "During the revolution, they fought for the loyalists, both as their best informants and as tough fighters. When the war was over, their side had lost, but a bunch of them were still around, and they still had a pretty big information network. No one had any idea whether any of them were still in Kyoto until just recently when a group of terrorists tried to attack Kyoto. Some people said they might've been trying to burn it down, but that's way too classifieds for me to ever find out about for sure. Anyway, the Oniwaban Group supposedly showed up and helped stop the terrorists, meaning that some of them are still in Kyoto."

At this Kurama's spirits were raised greatly. A ninja information network was just what he needed. It would allow him to search for his friends while at the same time look into something that could send them all, if there was anyone else, back to their own time.

"I see…and exactly where could I find this Oniwaban Group?" questioned Kurama.

"I'm afraid I can't help ya' there," answered the bartender, shaking his head. "They are ninja, after all."

"Thank you, I appreciate the information. Good day to you," the fox demon stated, standing and walking out of the bar, leaving behind a bartender who was clearly expecting a tip of some kind.

Suddenly, Kurama felt a small lurch in his stomach. He hadn't had consumed anything but water from an abandoned pump for three days, and, unlike Hiei, hunger was a human limitation that his body forced upon him. As with all problems, Kurama decided that it would be best to deal with this quickly and efficiently. He had not gone far when he saw a solution: a very large building that looked to be a hotel and restaurant with the by the name of "The Aoiya", as inferred by the sign over its entrance. The one noticeable feature, other than its size, was that it looked like it had received extensive repairs made to its front recently

_'If they can afford such repairs, than they shouldn't miss a handful of food,'_ Kurama reasoned as he began to circle the building, looking for an entrance into the kitchen. _'I hate to resort to stealing, but I don't really have a choice until I can find some money.'_

After circling the building a little, the stranded demon found a door marked "Employees Only" with the smell and sounds of fresh cooking drifting out of a nearby window. Judging by the sounds, the kitchen was occupied, meaning that opening the door would be noticed immediately. Unfortunately, the windows were so small that it was really the only way he was going to get in there. However, as he was thinking, he noticed a small rock lying on the ground in front of him, and this gave him an idea.

Picking up the rock, he quickly judged the angle he had at the window when he stood next to the door. Taking a deep breath to focus, he then hurled the rock through a hole in the window. As soon as he heard the sound of the rock hitting the far wall of the kitchen, he slid the door open. Fortunately, there were several meat buns on a counter right next to the entrance, and he snatched two. However, as he looked up from the table, he realized that his plan had failed. While the two women who were working at the stoves, one taller with her hair let down and the other slightly shorter with her hair up in a bun, had turned to look at the noise, there was a young girl with a long braided ponytail standing in the kitchen entrance looking straight at Kurama. She looked oddly familiar, but Kurama had no time to speculate, quickly darting back out of the kitchen, even as the girl began to yell some rather unflattering things in his direction.

He quickly pocketed the meat buns as he sprinted down the alleyway at what would be superb speed for a human. Unlike Hiei or Kuwabara, Kurama knew the precise strength of his physical body without spirit energy, as he had decided that it would be useful information to have if ever he was caught in a fight with humans. Admittedly, that was a slightly paranoid thing for him to do, but as of now it was looking like a wise decision. After ducking into several alleyways in a zigzagging pattern, Kurama finally stopped, positive that he had lost the three females. A very irate voice soon proved him wrong.

"You stole from the wrong restaurant, jackass!" yelled out the girl with the ponytail as she rounded the corner just behind Kurama, causing him to whirl about to see that she was closely followed by the two women working in the kitchen.

_'They're quite fast for humans,'_ noted Kurama. _'I'll have to try more advanced methods.'_

Before the women could reach him, Kurama leapt upwards and forwards towards the wall opposite of where he was standing, and then sprung off of that wall onto the roof of the building he had been standing next to. Thinking he had at last escaped his pursuers, he began to casually walk along the middle of the roof, hands in his pockets. He was about to take out one of the meat buns when suddenly, the woman with the let down hair leapt up several yards in front of him. He turned his head to find that the woman with her hair in a bun had landed behind him, and the girl with the ponytail immediately landed to his right.

"Surely, this isn't worth the trouble for just two meat buns, now is it?" asked Kurama with a small smile, refusing to let them see his shock.

"Trouble? Who said that this was trouble?" retorted the woman with the long hair held out of her eyes by a headband as she smirked slightly.

"Nobody steals from the Aoiya without getting their butt kicked," added the girl with the ponytail. "We've got a reputation to uphold!"

With that, all three of the women leapt at Kurama with surprising speed. Since he did not know the strength of his new foes, Kurama opted to be on the defensive, dodging and blocking all of the punches and kicks thrown his way. The three women were very skilled for humans, and they were well versed in the martial arts, of this Kurama was soon certain. However, Kurama's knowledge in this area was unmatched, and he proved quite capable of avoiding any damage whatsoever with considerable grace. After several moments of staying in relatively the same spot, Kurama suddenly flipped backwards as he avoided a spin kick from the girl with the hair-bun, and then promptly turned and leapt to another building in retreat. While he realized he could defeat the three women, he was quite unsure of whether or not he could do so without injuring any of them. Thus, he chose escape as his best option.

Instantly, his three opponents gave pursuit, and as he turned his head and saw them dart gracefully across the roof, a thought occurred to him.

_'The way they run...that fighting style…those are similar to ninja techniques,'_ he realized, suddenly stopping and turning to face the three women. _'Could they be the Oniwaban ninjas?'_

The one taller one with the long hair was the first to arrive, landing a few feet in front of him and punching at his face with her right arm. Deftly, Kurama moved slightly to the right and caught her wrist in his left hand she tried to attack with her left fist but it was caught in the same manner.

"Tell me something," Kurama said, drawing a little closer and smiling disarmingly. "I wouldn't have happened to stumble into the famed Oniwaban Group, now would I have?"

"Wh-What?" stammered the woman, blushing slightly at the proximity of her face to that of the admittedly handsome thief's.

The woman with the hair-bun interrupted by landing behind Kurama and trying to kick him in the back of the head, to which Kurama responded by letting go of the woman's left wrist and slipping his hand to her waist before bowing down while still holding the long haired woman as though he were waltzing with her. He then quickly raised himself and his "partner" up before spinning and releasing her towards the other woman with relative gentleness, adding to the waltzing image. The long haired woman stumbled backwards into the other woman, looking quite flustered, and, although she was caught and stabilized easily, neither of them had the confidence that they had shown before. He then flipped backwards in the air over the flying kick that the girl with the ponytail had aimed at him and artfully landed at the edge of the roof that they were now standing on.

"Well, are you or are you not the Oniwaban Group?" asked Kurama once more, startling the two women that hadn't heard him before.

"How did y-" began the girl with the ponytail before quickly clasping her hands over her mouth as she realized too late that she had said too much.

Kurama felt deeply satisfied as he looked at the three Oniwaban ninjas standing before him. At the start of the fight, they had been supremely confident, but now they were all obviously quite flustered by Kurama's antics. Nothing had ever entertained Kurama more in a fight then when he was able to play mind games with his adversary. He had suspected that this was do with having the king of thieves trying to influence him ever since he had been born, but this didn't stop him from enjoying it.

"Well, it appears that it was a good thing that I became so hungry when I did," remarked Kurama, still sporting his disarming smile. "You are exactly the people I have been looking for."

"What do you want?" asked the woman with the hair-bun, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"I have some people that I need to find, and I heard that you could help me in this regard," explained Kurama. "Now then, I'm sure that you're needed back at your restaurant, so I'm sure that it would be of benefit to all of us to go back and work things out peacefully over there."

After glaring at Kurama for several more moments, the woman with the hair-bun motioned her colleagues over to her, and they huddled together to discuss the offer while keeping their eyes on Kurama. Seconds later, they broke the huddle and the girl with the ponytail stepped forward, apparently the leader, which was odd considering she was clearly the youngest of the trio.

"Okay, we'll head back to the Aoiya and talk to you, but don't think that we're gonna' let you off the hook so easily," stated the girl, though her voice was still quite hostile.

"Very good, although I'm afraid I won't be able to return the meat buns," Kurama replied, taking out a disfigured white lump out of his pocket. "All that fighting wasn't very healthy for them."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

The walk back the Aoiya was tense, to say the least. The girl with ponytail was leading the group while the other two women remained behind Kurama, apparently making sure that he wasn't going to break for it. Kurama smiled inwardly at this. Surely, as fighters, they must know that Kurama could easily defeat all three of them and walk away if he so wished. The formation was likely out of habit. Eventually, they did reach the restaurant, and upon entering the kitchen, were greeted by two young men, now tending to the stoves. One was an ox of a man, with small eyes and hair so short he was almost bald, although that is not to say that the other, a man with unkempt spiky hair, was not athletic looking, for he was large and muscular enough to look rather big compared to Kurama. Both wore blue uniforms similar to those of the women Kurama had just fought, and both sported a rope tied around their head like a headband.

"You guys are lucky we heard the commotion and came back here, or the whole place might've burned down since you left the stoves on," said the smaller of the two men as he focused moving on a pot of soup before looking up. "Did you at least kick th-"

"Who's your friend?" asked the larger one before the smaller one could ask for him.

"He says he's a client," said the girl in front of Kurama. "Yeah, _that_ kind of client."

Kurama wisely stayed quiet when the girl and the big man had a whispered conversation that he could not detect. After they had finished, the big man motioned to the smaller one, and then to Kurama, clearly meaning for him to follow. The two other women took up their positions in the kitchen, although Kurama could feel their eyes on him until he exited the kitchen. Now, it was the girl that was behind him with the two men leading the way out of the kitchen, and then out of the restaurant area and into the building's courtyard. As soon as this happened, Kurama felt something sharp press gently into the small of his back.

_'A kitchen knife. She's not bad, I didn't see her pick it up.'_ He thought not bothering to respond to the action as the four of them walked down the inner porch.

Eventually, they reached a room at the far end of the courtyard that was apparently their destination, for the larger man at this point opened the door and stepped inside.

"Okina, we have some company," he said as everyone else waited to enter.

"What kind of company?" came the voice of an old man from within the room.

"What kind of company would it be if we bothered showing him to you, gramps?" said the girl from behind Kurama.

"Ah, very well then, send him in," replied Okina from within the room, and the smaller man motioned for Kurama to enter, which he did so with the girl still pressing the knife against his back.

He found that it was indeed an old man in the room, now sitting facing the door to greet his visitor. He had graying hair, as one would expect, which was both on his head and in the form of a bushy mustache, but more notably, his head and left eye were covered in bandages. He motioned to the two men at the door, and they promptly closed it with footsteps of them leaving quickly following.

"Let him sit down, Misao. I don't think anyone would want to do business with a knife against their back," requested Okina, to which the girl, Misao, begrudgingly complied and went to stand next to the old man. "Now then, sit down. What exactly do you want of the Oniwaban Group, Mr…?"

"Minamino. Shuichi Minamino. I have heard that when it comes to information, you are the best. I have people that I need found, and I would like your help in this regard," Kurama stated, getting straight to the point.

"We're not gonna' help you with any kind of assassination, if that's what you mean," cut in Misao harshly. "The Oniwaban are no one's thugs."

"No, nothing like that, I can assure you," replied Kurama, shaking his head. "If you must know, they are my friends, and I am quite concerned for their safety."

For a moment, the two Oniwaban ninja just stared hard at him, and after a moment, apparently judging him honest, Okina spoke.

"These services will cost money, you know," Okina stated.

"I'm afraid that I cannot pay you up front, but, if you allow me, I can pay off the fee by working here at the Aoiya if that will suffice," Kurama responded politely.

"Well, I suppose th-" began Okina, before Misao quickly cut him off.

"Hold on, gramps! I'm the leader of the Oniwaban Group now, this is my decision," said the girl, then moved forward towards Kurama, toying with the knife in her hands. "I'm gonna' let you do this, but if you so much as steal a rice ball, I'll give you the beating of a lifetime, got it?"

"Of course," said Kurama, smiling warmly. "I do apologize for stealing those earlier, it was just that I hadn't eaten in two days, and your restaurant looked profitable enough that it could spare a meat bun or two. I normally don't resort to stealing, but it was a last resort, I assure you."

The look Misao gave him told him that she would prefer he was less polite so that she could have an excuse to cause him some pain, which of course only made Kurama smile more. Scoffing, Misao then found some blank parchment and a writing utensil and asked for Kurama to describe the people he was looking for. He described everyone in detail, although he left out some things for his more…fantastical companions. Hiei's Jagan and Inuyasha's ears, for example, were left out. Eventually though, he had finished describing everyone, and as the parchment was being rolled up, he suddenly realized that he needed to mention something else.

"There is one thing…" he said with a little hesitation. "I'm not exactly sure how many of them are well…exactly here, so to speak. It may be that none of them are around now…"

"Oh…well, don't worry," said Misao, her hostility giving way to sympathy a bit. "If they're out there, we'll find them for you."

"Thank you very much, I truly do appreciate it," Kurama responded, bowing his head low to the floor in thanks and then rising to his feet.

After bowing politely once again to Okina and Misao, Kurama exited the room, and heard Misao leave immediately afterwards. He turned to see her still fiddling with the knife. He waited for her to fall into step beside him before they headed back towards the restaurant section of the Aoiya.

"You still think I might require a knife in the back, then?" Kurama said, flashing another smile. "It would be quite hard to work here if you're always pressing something sharp into my back."

"Oh…sorry," said Misao, and then quickly flicked the knife across the courtyard where it implanted itself in a wooden pylon with rather startling accuracy. "I guess you have to be telling the truth, otherwise there's no way you could have given such detailed descriptions of your friends."

"Either that, or I have the best imagination in the world," replied Kurama jokingly. "At any rate, I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot like that. I'm normally not one for such poor first impressions."

"You mean you're a kiss ass," retorted Misao with a small smirk. "Don't worry about it. I'm more mad that we didn't even touch you than about the food. What style of fighting do you use? It's not like anything I've seen before."

"A great martial artist once said: When one has no form, one can be all forms; when one has no style, he can fit in with any style," answered Kurama, prompting a confused look from Misao.

"Huh, I've never heard that before," she thought, although Kurama knew this, since the man who said the quote wasn't born for quite a few decades. "Sounds smart, though. Anyway, what kind of work can you do?"

"Anything, basically," Kurama answered. "Cooking, cleaning…"

"That one, cleaning," cut in Misao, suddenly grinning. "We're gonna' make you a maid, pretty boy."

"Well…I wouldn't say maid…" began Kurama, suddenly feeling as though he was receiving a final payback for the meat buns.

"Oh, but I would," said Misao, grinning. "And we'll make you wear a girl's apron while you do it."

Kurama sighed in exasperation as Misao bounded off, presumably to get his new effeminate uniform. Unfortunately, even with this humiliation, he found that he was in a better situation then he had been before encountering the Oniwaban Group. He could only hope that he would get on Misao's good side as soon as possible.


	24. Chapter Twenty Three: An Ounce of Luck

**To the readers/reviewers:** Hey there folks, it's been a while. I really appreciate everyone who has read or reviewed this fic, and I'm really sorry about the long wait for an update. Right now is the busiest time of the year for me, but it should be over in about two weeks, so I should start updating regularly again by then. Also, I actually had to go back and rewrite a large chink of this chapter a couple times because there were some things that just weren't clicking for me, so that's another excuse I'm going to try and hide behind. Anyway, here's the next chapter, I hope you like it.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Twenty-three: An Ounce of Luck**

It had been weeks since Yusuke had quit his so called job as Spirit Detective, and instead of his mood improving over this period of time, it only seemed to get worse. Naturally, he hadn't spent a single second at school, but then, he hadn't spent a single second in the arcade either. His appearance reflected his demeanor, as well. He had stopped bothering to slick his hair back as he usually did, and was just letting it stick out wherever it so chose to, apparently totally disinterested with how he looked. He didn't really express interest in much of anything now, and this was reflected by what he occupied himself with.

Although, "occupied" is perhaps the wrong word, for when he wasn't lying in his room and staring at the ceiling, he was wandering around the streets of Tokyo. Sometimes, he purposely walked in the areas with the least amount of people so that he could be truly alone, and sometimes he walked in areas where he knew a local street gang hung out just so that he could get the satisfaction of spreading some pain around to other people. At the moment, he was walking through a small park and kicking an aluminum can as he went, feeling too bored with his ceiling to stare at it again and fairly certain that there were no gangs in the area that he hadn't already put in the hospital.

"Yusuke!" he heard Keiko call out to him, breaking the silence.

Almost every day, Keiko had tried to get Yusuke out of his rut, and at first Yusuke had actually responded to her, though what he said was far from pleasant. Recently though, he had decided just to ignore her altogether. Since she was the only one who really ever talked to him outside of his now departed friends, the result was that Yusuke hadn't spoken for days.

"Yusuke!" called out Keiko again as she ran up next to him. "I've been looking all over for you."

Yusuke grunted, then kicked the aluminum can again.

"Yusuke, you have to snap out of this," she continued, staring sadly at him. "You can't live out the rest of your life just sitting in your room and walking in parks."

Yusuke abstained from grunting this time, though he still gave the can another kick.

"Please, Yusuke," Keiko continued to plea. "They…they wouldn't want you to be like this…"

Yusuke crushed the can under his foot.

"Don't pretend like you know what they would want, the only people that know that is them," he spoke suddenly, his voice quiet and his expression emotionless turned to look at Keiko. "I know that you're trying to help me, but I don't want your help, or anyone else's. You know what, why don't you just never talk to me again?"

Tears were gathering in Keiko's eyes and threatened to overflow as she backed away from Yusuke, shocked by his biting words. Yusuke just turned on his heel and walked slowly onwards through the park, not giving Keiko a second glance. He hadn't gone more than a few steps before he was interrupted again by someone calling his name.

"Yusuke, I need to talk to you!" Botan called down urgently as she burst through the trees, flying hastily on her oar. "A demon is on the loose in Tokyo and Koe-"

"I thought I told you I'm done with your stupid missions," he sated, cutting her off as he walked past her. "So go tell Koenma that he can get _himself_ killed cleaning up Spirit World's messes."

Botan watched sadly for a moment as Yusuke walked onward before he rounded a corner and disappeared behind the trees. It was now that she noticed Keiko's current emotional state.

"I'm so worried, Botan," said Keiko as the ferry girl dismounted her oar and walked over to the human girl to comfort her. "I'm worried that the Yusuke we knew may never come back. He's just so…depressed."

"I'm sure he'll be back to normal eventually," assured Botan as Keiko wiped some of the tears away from her eyes. "It just might…take some time…"

"I hope so, Botan, I really do…"

000000000000000000000000000000000000

At her family's shrine across the city from where Yusuke had just recently reaffirmed his unemployed status, Kagome was having her own issues, and it wasn't just the oversized backpack she was dragging wearily towards her house. Without Naraku interfering, at least temporarily, it had been expected that the hunt for more shards of the Shikon Jewel would be far easier than normal. It quickly became apparent that this was not the case. In the weeks that had followed, the team had recovered only one more shard, bringing the total up to three, which was exactly where they had been before the Spirit Detectives had arrived on the scene. On top of that, they had found no trace of Naraku.

At least a small part of this could be attributed to Miroku's disappearance while Kagome and Inuyasha were meeting with Koenma. Not only did this leave the group down one member, but it also served to bring morale down even lower than it had been before. Shippou, being a child, had occasionally allowed himself to be distracted as children are, but even so, he would quickly snap back to the harsh reality on seeing the everyone's rather gloomy faces. Seeing Shippou so unusually unhappy had almost been enough to drag Kagome down into the emotional slums, but fortunately, Inuyasha had been there for her. Not in the warm, fuzzy sense of "being there", of course, as that was not the kind of person he was. His demeanor, however, had remained the least affected by the recent events, and although he was quite a bit more serious than normal and was clearly exerting an incredible amount of effort to remain tactful in what he said, he nonetheless provided Kagome with an emotional pillar to lean on.

Sango, however, was far beyond such support. Not surprisingly, she had taken everything personally, from the Spirit Detectives unfortunate fates to Miroku's disappearance. The worst part about this was that her constant blaming of herself seemed to have a small bit of logic to it. After all, Hiei had sacrificed himself for her. While she had been relieved to hear that this sacrifice had not actually been deadly, Kagome had noted disappointedly that it was not nearly enough relief to make much of a difference to Sango, especially since she was also blaming Miroku's disappearance on herself. Kagome had known better than to pry on the issue, though it was not as though she had to. Like Miroku had, Kagome was able to put together the pieces and figure out just what kinds of feelings Sango had been experiencing towards Hiei. However, unlike Miroku, she had also realized that Sango also felt similar feelings towards the monk. It was at this point that Kagome decided that the issue was far too sensitive for her to even attempt to meddle in.

'_In short, we've hit rock bottom,'_ thought Kagome as she opened the door to her house and gratefully dropped her backpack down on the ground.

No one was home, which wasn't surprising. It was, after all, the middle of the day, which meant Kagome's brother, Souta was in school, and her mother and grandpa were likely out doing some chore or another. For this Kagome was grateful. She felt so exhausted that she closed her eyes as she opened the door to her room and instinctively stumbled onto her bed.

"Oh my, it doesn't look like you're feeling that well either, are you?" said a worried and somewhat familiar female voice, causing Kagome to sit abruptly upright and turn in that direction.

"Oh, it's you…Botan, right?" spoke Kagome as her eyes fell on the blue haired woman that was standing by her window. "What are you doing here? This isn't about the Sacred Jewel, is it?"

"Oh no. No need to fret over that. Like Lord Koenma said, you're all cleared legally on that," assured Botan. "Actually, Lord Koenma has a favor to ask of you. Is Inuyasha here?"

"No, he's in his own time. Do you need me to get him?" Kagome asked, rising reluctantly to her feet.

"That would be splendid, thank you," confirmed Botan, then reaching into her robes and pulling out a videotape. "Now then, do you have a VCR?"

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Once Kagome had managed to retrieve Inuyasha from beyond the well, which, to Kagome's shock, had required only one sit, it had still taken them a few minutes to set up the VCR. Kagome had been far too busy recently to spend any time watching television or movies, so she proved rather inept in helping Botan with the task. Eventually, though, they did figure it out, and the tape finally began to play. After a rather lengthy introduction that had a plethora of fireworks form the image of Koenma's face on the screen with blaring rock music in the background, the screen shifted to an image of Koenma, the seemingly teenaged, pacifier sucking ruler of Spirit World sitting in a large padded chair by a crackling fire and donning a bathrobe. He also seemed to be holding a wine glass filled with what looked like chocolate milk.

"Hello Kagome and Inuyasha, I hope that you are well since we met last. I apologize for not meeting you in person, but I'm very busy doing incredibly important things all the time, so I'm afraid that this tape will have to fill the unimaginably massive void left by my absence," began the recording of Koenma though Botan muttered something about naps when Koenma said he was busy. "At any rate, I have sent Botan with this tape to ask you for your help. Yusuke is refusing to return to his duties as Spirit Detective, so I'm afraid that I must ask you to replace him for the time being."

"Replace him? Just who the hell does he think we are? Mercenaries?" scoffed Inuyasha before he was shushed by Kagome.

"There is a low level demon that has been wreaking havoc at a local museum. He is a low level, but so far, he has killed two security guards and ruined most of the exhibits," continued Koenma's recording. "Fortunately, I have managed to use what connections to the human world I still have to destroy any recordings of the demon and seal off the museum even after the local police finished their investigation, which I also diverted away from discovering the demon's presence with my unparalleled greatness. I need you two to go to the museum and eliminate the demon for me. I know that you must have your hands full with your own troubles, but you're the only people I can turn to until Yusuke snaps out of his current state. Also if you accept my offer, this videotape will give you each a cookie. It's chocolate chip."

With that, the screen went black, and Botan ejected the tape.

"Cookies?" questioned Kagome, looking a little bewildered.

"I'm afraid so. It took me a good thirty minutes to pry them out of the tape without ruining it," Botan answered with a sigh. "Lord Koenma's misconception of what a videotape can do aside, I'll give you two a few minutes to think about this."

With that, Botan left the living room, leaving Kagome and Inuyasha alone. Kagome looked at Inuyasha, not even having to speak to convey her question. After a moment, she got her response. It was a nod.

"We owe it to 'em, right?" he added, and Kagome nodded in agreement. "Besides, I've just got a feeling that this is more important than just a low level demon…"

000000000000000000000000000000000000

It had been decided that they would wait until nightfall to head to the museum, although Kagome and Inuyasha had wanted to do it right away. Apparently, Botan did not share the opinion that Inuyasha wearing a baseball cap was sufficient disguise for the half-demon. When the sun had finally gone down, the pair was off, with Inuyasha carrying Kagome on his back as he leapt across the rooftops. At last, they arrived at the museum's rooftop, and, using a key Botan had given them, unlocked the door that led to the stairwell and entered the building.

The museum was dark and quiet, and it did not help that they had entered into the "Fossils" section with the skulls of various prehistoric creatures staring at them with hollowed eyes.

"What the hell are these things Kagome?" asked Inuyasha as he put his face nose to nose with a raptor skull. "They don't look like any demons I've ever seen."

"They're called dinosaurs, Inuyasha," answered Kagome as she removed an arrow from her quiver and held it at the ready in her bow. "I'll tell you about them later, but for now, all you need to know is that they're very expensive and you can't break any of them."

Reluctantly, Inuyasha backed away from the fossil and sniffed the air. After all, the sooner he killed this demon, the sooner he could find out about the dinosaurs.

"Found the bastard. Stay close to me, Kagome," he said, and then began to lead on down the hall.

They passed all kinds of exhibits as they walked through the halls, but neither Inuyasha nor Kagome paid much attention to them, choosing instead to focus on finding the demon. Eventually, they had made their way into the "Japanese History" section of the museum. Coming to a stop right next to a door that said "Historians' Offices", Inuyasha again sniffed the air before hastily drawing the Tetsusaiga.

"Come on out! We know you're here, demon!" he bellowed, having never been a fan of cat and mouse games.

"Out, you says? You wants my shinies, doesn't you? Hee hee, you wants to gets me out so you can take the shinies," came back a high pitched, hissing voice. "You tries to tricks me, but you can't tricks me. I'm too smarts for you."

"Well, at least we know why he's hanging around in a museum. He likes shiny things," said Kagome, slightly bewildered.

"I don't care about your stupid stuff, I'm here to kill ya you pest! Now come out!" Inuyasha yelled at the demon again.

This time, he got a response, and something was seen dropping from the ceiling and landing onto the floor. It was a lizard demon, this much was gathered easily since it appeared to be simply a larger, uglier version of the animal that it was associated with. It was wearing something that didn't look normal, but neither Inuyasha nor Kagome could see it that well in the darkness. This didn't stop Inuyasha from leaping straight at the demon with intent to kill, but it made Kagome squint to get a better look at the demon. Suddenly, as Inuyasha was in midair flying at his target, she figured it out.

"Wait, Inuyasha! Don't use the Tetsusaiga, he's wearing a bunch of the museum's valuable artifacts!" she cried out causing Inuyasha to twist in mid air to avoid the lizard demon as he flew past it.

Inuyasha was about to yell at the girl, but he was now close enough to the lizard demon to see that she was right. The "strange clothing" had in fact been a mishmash of beautiful necklaces, belts, crowns, and any other kind of gilded or gem encrusted artifact you could possibly find in a museum, and the demon had managed to find a way to put all of them on at once. Cursing, Inuyasha reluctantly sheathed the Tetsusaiga.

"Hee Hee, can'ts hurt the shinies cans you? Then I'll kills you and take all yours shinies!" spat out the Lizard demon, and then let out a hiss as it leapt towards Inuyasha.

"I'm sick of listening to that damned hissing!" yelled Inuyasha, and almost effortlessly landed a powerful right hook onto the lizard demon's jaw, sending it smashing it straight through a suit of samurai armor and the wall next to the door that said "Historians' Offices".

"You! Die!" cried out the lizard demon as it rose from the rubble of what was once someone's office while Inuyasha stepped through the hole in the wall.

The demon never even got a chance to attack, as it found Inuyasha's claws piercing right through its jugular. The demon emitted a pathetic gurgle, and then collapsed as blood spurted out of his throat like a small fountain, effectively dying all the jewelry he was wearing crimson.

"Inuyasha! You got blood all over that stuff!" chided Kagome as she stepped into the office. "And you wrecked this poor person's office!"

"Feh, I didn't break them. They can be washed off can't they?" he scoffed, poking the corpse of the lizard demon with his foot.

Kagome sighed and tried to assess the damage. The office was now effectively filled with a mixture of rubble from the wall and the splintered remains of what once was someone's desk. There was a sign that had the name of its owner, but only the surname remained intact: Himura. A small cardboard box that said "information on Battousai" on it had somehow survived the destruction, although it had been tipped over and its contents spilled onto the ground. There was a couple of journals, a bound stack of letters, and quite a few photographs that had been scattered onto the ground, though most of it didn't warrant more than a glance. One of the black and white photographs caught her eye, however. In it, five people were standing in front of the gates of some kind of compound. In the front of the group was a smallish samurai with a scar on his left cheek, to his left was a young woman, and to her left was a small boy. Behind them were two fairly tall young men, one with wild hair who was wearing fighting gi, looking positively sick with anxiety, and the other…

"Inuyasha! Look at this picture!" cried out Kagome suddenly, and Inuyasha walked over to peer down at the photograph over he shoulder. "That's Kuwabara!"

Sure enough, the fifth person in picture, curly hair, stupid grin and all, was Kazuma Kuwabara. There was no question. Hastily, Kagome turned the photograph over, and to her great relief, found faded wording on the back.

"It even has the date on the back! The exact day is a little worn off, but the month and year are right here!" she exclaimed. "Come on, we have to get this to Yusuke!"

"Right, let's go," agreed Inuyasha with a nod.

After Kagome took a moment to climb onto his back, Inuyasha took off running, leaving the lizard demon's corpse rotting in Himura's office. At the speed they were going, they would have been able to reach Yusuke in no time at all. However, it took them at least ten minutes to figure out how to get back out of the museum, and once out, it took them another five to figure out that they had no idea where Yusuke lived. Needless to say, both parties blamed the other for getting lost.


	25. Chapter TwentyFour: Where There’s a Will

**To the readers/reviewers:** It's all right, people! I'm not dead! I could list a lot of excuses about how busy I've been, but you people don't really want to hear that, I'm guessing. If you're still reading this fic despite the infrequent updates, I thank you profusely, for you are truly loyal readers. Anyway, thanks for your support, and enjoy the next chapter!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Twenty-four: Where There's a Will…**

Eventually, Inuyasha and Kagome had simply decided to return home and await Botan's return to check on the results of the mission the next day so they could show her the picture. Botan was ecstatic, to say the least, and a five minute session of excited chatter, uttered so fast that it was almost incoherent ensued. Once they had finally calmed the delighted ferry girl down, Kagome left with her to go tell Yusuke, leaving Inuyasha behind. Kagome had no problem about bringing Inuyasha out into public as long as he had something to cover his ears up, but Botan had ruled it out. Being an official messenger of Spirit World meant that there would be hell to pay if Inuyasha's nature was discovered in her presence, and she wasn't going to take the risk that a mere baseball cap would suffice.

On the way, they made a stop at Keiko's both to tell her of the news and to take her with them to tell Yusuke, since she had a key to his apartment that she had been given while taking care of his body during the brief period of time when he was dead, although Botan had managed to keep Kagome from learning about that incident. Kagome may have been helping Spirit World, but since she wasn't _officially_ working for them, that kind of information needed to remain classified.

When the finally arrived at Yusuke's apartment, the place looked deserted from the outside, but they decided to look there anyway, since there was a strong possibility that Yusuke had suddenly found his ceiling mildly interesting again. Sure enough, when they entered, they found a small amount of light escaping from one of the doors. Giving the other two a signal to wait, Keiko knocked lightly on the door.

"Yusuke? It's Keiko," she announced, though she was not blessed with a response. "Botan and Kagome are here, too. Kagome found something that you need to see."

Again there was no response. Sighing, Keiko opened the door and entered, with Kagome and Botan following close behind. Yusuke, as expected, was laying on his back and staring at the ceiling, fully clothed, but still without his hair gel.

"You're in my room. Get out," stated Yusuke tonelessly, not taking his eyes off of the ceiling.

"Yusuke, there's something you need to know…" she began, and then took in a deep breath before speaking again. "It's about Kuwabara and the others…"

Suddenly, Yusuke's eyes were off the ceiling and now glaring daggers into Keiko. Keiko opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it and looked at the floor, overcome with a sense of shame.

"We haven't told you everything about what happened to them," finished Botan for Keiko, causing Yusuke to glare at the ferry girl with ten times the potency. "It's just, that they aren't dead."

"What in the hell are you talking about?" growled Yusuke through clenched teeth. "I saw them die. Don't lie to me."

"It's the truth!" chimed in Kagome. "They weren't killed, they were just sent through time! Look!"

Kagome pulled out the worn picture with Kuwabara in it and hastily handed it to Yusuke. He irritably took the picture and began to glance it over, and midway through the process his jaw became so slack that one might think it had suddenly gone numb, and he began to blink rapidly as though to rid himself of an illusion.

"What…? How…?" he managed to stammer.

"Like I said, they were just sent through time, not killed by Naraku's blast. It's a little complicated, but it had something to do with the Sacred Jewel absorbing the time travel spell, or something like that," Kagome reiterated patiently, and then flipped over the picture to the side with the date on it. "See? It even has the date on the back, so we can go find them and bring them back here."

For several long moments, Yusuke just stared at the back of the picture. Then, as though a gear was turning in his head, his face slowly grew brighter and brighter until his lips twisted into a wide, toothy grin and his eyes shone so bright that they practically sparkled. When this happened, it seemed like a buzzer had just gone off in his head, and he suddenly shot up off of his bed and let out a loud cry of victory. Then, to the dismay of all three girls gathered in his room, he scooped them all up in a massive bear hug.

"They're alive! They're alive! I can't believe it!" he repeated as he swung the helpless young women about in his arms and laughed joyously. "I'd hug you guys harder, but it'd probably kill ya'!"

None of the three girls doubted this last statement in the least. Seemingly spontaneously, Yusuke released them from his hug, and all three fell to the ground, butt first. Yusuke was suddenly staring down at them with narrowed eyes, and while not quite as venomous as they were before, they were still fairly intimidating.

"You knew they weren't dead, didn't you?" he asked with controlled anger before raising his voice when there came no reply. "Why didn't you tell me? What, you didn't think I could handle i-"

Yusuke abruptly stopped in mid sentence, leaving his mouth hanging open as the anger disappeared from his face and his shoulders slumped slightly.

_'Kuwabara said the same thing back in the Dark Tournament after he found out that Genkai had been killed. We had kept him in the dark, too,'_ Yusuke recalled regaining enough composure to smile slightly as he remembered the incident. _'Well, that's rich. Maybe there's something to this karma stuff after all.'_

"Yusuke…we're sorry, we were ju-" started Keiko before Yusuke raised his hand to stop her.

"It's alright. Forget about it," he said dismissively. "The important thing is that the guys are fine, and better yet, we know where they are."

Yusuke rose up off of the bed and began rummaging around in his drawer for something. Soon, he found the object, and quickly tucked it away in his pocket. He stopped and gave a sharp glance towards Kagome, who had suddenly begun to giggle.

"Why do you bother trying to hide it," she remarked, clearly trying to prod the boy. "What, did you think we thought that hair was natural?"

"What are you…oh, the hair gel," Keiko said, and then joined in the giggling. "He's embarrassed about using it for some reason. You should see him when he goes to buy it. Sometimes he even just shoplifts it so that he doesn't have to explain himself to the cashier."

"Hey! That's not funny!" Yusuke retorted, though he now took out the hair gel from his pocket and started applying it to his hair since his cover had been blown. "It's a guy thing, you wouldn't get it."

"Well of course we don't, that's what we've been telling you," replied Kagome with another giggle, much to Yusuke's chagrin.

"Whatever…" grumbled Yusuke as he finished applying the gel and made for the door with his hair triumphantly slicked back once again. "Botan, let's go. I need to talk to Koenma about this right away."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Koenma looked down at the picture that Yusuke had tossed onto his desk, stared at it, and then looked back up at Yusuke. The boy was absolutely beaming. Koenma couldn't even recall the last time he'd seen Yusuke so genuinely happy. That only made the situation that much more difficult.

"Well, pacifier breath, what are you waiting for? Let's head to that gate place and go find those guys!" said the boy energetically, causing Koenma to wince inwardly.

"Yusuke…" began Koenma, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath. "I can't."

There was a long pause after this. Yusuke's mouth was contorting in various ways, as though it was trying to say several things at once, but simply had no breath to make sound out of it. Finally, Yusuke managed to speak.

"Just what in the hell are you talking about, toddler?" he demanded, though his voice was far weaker than the words he spoke.

"I can't, Yusuke," repeated the pint-sized deity. "It's against Spirit World law to use free-destination time travel for anything bu-"

"Don't play games with me! This isn't something to joke about!" yelled Yusuke suddenly. "We traveled through time at the beginning of the damned mission, remember?"

"That's enough, Yusuke. Let Lord Koenma explain," suggested Botan, her face full of concern.

"Thank you, Botan. Yusuke, the reason we were able to do that was because of a loophole in Spirit World law that allows us to pursue criminals or mission objectives without restrictions, as I'm sure Kurama explained to you at some point," explained Koenma solemnly. "However, when not in the act of doing one of those things, free-destination time travel is expressly forbidden by Spirit World law."

"Who cares? My friends are stranded out there! Can't we bend the rules to save teammates?" bellowed Yusuke, doing a very poor job at remaining calm.

"I'm sorry, Yusuke, but I can't. This is a very serious law, and for good reason. Free-destination time travel is extremely dangerous," stated Koenma, closing his eyes and resting his hands on his desk. "Allow me to explain. We classify time travel into two types: free-destination travel and fixed-timeline travel. Free-destination time travel, as you might guess from its name, enables the traveler to go to any time period in the past or present with absolutely no limitations. However, it has been shown that if free-destination time travel is used too liberally, it can cause significant damage to the space-time continuum. This could cause history itself to be changed in significant ways, or, in the absolute worst case scenario, cause space-time to be torn apart. It is for this reason that it is forbidden."

"If it's so dangerous, then how come you sent us there in the first place?" bellowed Yusuke, failing to control his anger yet again. "Hell, why did you even let that stupid gate even exist?"

"At the time, I'd thought that the threat of the Sacred Jewel shards might have been just as dangerous if they were being imported from the past. If I had known that Kagome and her allies were working against this threat, I never would have sent you into the past," replied Koenma with a regretful sigh. "As to why the gate exists, it is there so that we can combat anyone who might find a way to utilize free-destination time travel and harm the space-time continuum. Fortunately, free-destination time has occurred very rarely in history, so we haven't had to use it much."

"What about Kagome's well? If she can use that to go play around in the stupid feudal era, then how come we can't use the gate to save my friends?" Yusuke put forth, refusing to let go of his anger.

"Because Kagome's well uses the other type of time travel, fixed-timeline travel," answered the deity. "This type of time travel is incredibly stable because it transports select people to very specific parts of time. For example, Kagome's well can _only_ transport her to exactly five hundred years in the past and no where else. As a result, we have discerned that this method of time travel has no recordable effect on the space-time continuum. We're not exactly sure of the reason, but the leading theory is that it is because the events that occur on the 'past' side of the portal are already an unchanging part of history on the 'future' side of the portal, meaning that they already have happened."

"Well why don't you just make one of those portals to where Kuwabara and the others are if they're so safe?" proposed the angered Spirit Detective, the volue of his voice now a little toned down.

"Those portals have to occur naturally, Yusuke, other wise they're just like free-destination time travel," dismissed Koenma.

After this, there was a long pause. Yusuke could no longer think of anything else to say, and was simply glaring at the ground as though he was trying to burn through it. Botan was simply looking on sadly from behind the boy as she had been throughout the whole conversation. Koenma had pulled open a drawer, and was taking out a book when Yusuke suddenly lunged forward and grabbed him by the collar.

"Now you listen, you no good excuse for a midget," he growled as he held the ruler of Spirit World up above his own desk. "I want my friend's back, damn it, and you're going to help me get them, got it?"

"Yusuke, stop it!" Botan cried out as she hastily moved forward to try and pry Yusuke's fingers away from Koenma's shirt. "If you break a law that serious, you could be thrown into a Spirit World prison! Lord Koenma is just trying to protect you!"

"I don't give a damn! If I can save my friends, it's worth it," spat Yusuke as he glared at Koenma threateningly.

"Yusuke, I know how hard this must be for you," said Koenma, remaining surprisingly calm. "So, I only have one job for you, and that is to deliver this book to Kagome as a token of Spirit World's aprec-"

Yusuke brought his fist back in preparation to punch Koenma straight in the face, but right before he released it forward, he stopped. Koenma had frantically held up the book in front of his face, opened up to a very specific page number, and was now cowering behind it with his eyes closed. The contents of the book seemed to be details on various relics of power, and one item in particular had caught Yusuke's eye. Next to a sketch of a large, rune covered katana was the name of the sword written in bold: Masaruten, also known as The Blade of Time.

"Now then, Yusuke, if you would be so kind as to put me down, then I could close this book, which was opened to a _completely_ random page number, and give it to you so that you can go give it to Kagome and her allies in the _feudal era_," said Koenma, speaking rapidly as Yusuke slowly lowered him back into his seat. "Like I said, immediately after you deliver the book you are on an indefinite vacation, meaning that you are _not_ an official representative of Spirit World and that we would have _no way_ of monitoring your actions. Hopefully, by the time you return back to duty, Kuwabara and the others will _somehow_ have managed to find their way back on their own."

Yusuke blinked and turned his head to the side slightly as though he had just been hit in the head with a large object and was recovering from the blow. Koenma simply closed the book and thrust it into the stunned boy's hands, and then wordlessly began to go over some papers on his desk. Yusuke looked from Koenma, to the book, and back again before finally grinning at the deity and turning towards the door.

"You may not be as big of a jerk as I thought, pacifier-breath," he remarked over his shoulder before opening the doors to Koenma's office and exiting through them.

"Lord Koenma, sir, if I may ask, what does Kagome have to do with Ma-I mean the things in that book?" asked Botan as the door to Koenma's office shut behind Yusuke.

"Well, you see, Botan, that book is a database on powerful relics from the feudal era. Since Yusuke can go through the well, I, in my infinite wisdom, decided that it would be best if he deliver such a useful tome to Kagome and her allies," Koenma answered with his usual air of superiority restored. "Why, they might even be able to gain some of the relics found in there for their own use."

Botan nodded in understanding and smiled at her boss warmly. She had to admit, Koenma had certainly been well prepared for this situation, and while the solution he had used wasn't exactly the most forthright, it was effective nonetheless. Suddenly, she remembered that there had been something she had been meaning to ask Koenma today.

"Lord Koenma, you never did explain how Yusuke has the ability to travel down the well," she stated, causing Koenma to jump in his seat slightly.

"Hmm? Why would you want to know something silly like that? You wouldn't, that's why…I mean that's why not…oh, you get the picture," he said rather hastily, stumbling over his words as he spoke.

"Lord Koenma…" urged Botan, getting more than a little frustrated as this was no less then the seventh time she had pushed for this answer.

There was a moment's pause, and then Koenma let out a long sigh. When he looked back at Botan, his eyes were far more piercing, and his look was stern. It had been a rare thing for Botan to see Koenma this serious.

"Listen, Botan, it has something to do with a combination of generation-skipping genetics and spirit energy signatures, and that's **all** we know," he said with emphasis. "We don't need to know anything else about it either, so long as he can go through the well. If we dig too deep, we may find something that we don't want to know."

"I suppose…" acknowledged Botan. "Sorry for prying, sir. I'll go help Yusuke get back to the human world now."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

On the feudal era side of Kagome's well, Inuyasha was becoming impatient, which was really not much of a surprise. Also not surprisingly, he was on the verge of leaping down the well and finding out what exactly was holding her up even though it had only been a few hours since she had gone to tell Yusuke the news about his friends. The world was spared a conflict that would inevitably end with several cries of "sit!" when the well glowed a deep purple just as he was about to jump in.

"'Bout time! What the hell kept ya?" he called towards the well as he neared it.

He quickly found himself at a loss for words when Yusuke Urameshi leapt out of the well with Kagome in his arms and her backpack on his back. Suddenly unsure whether to be angry, surprised, or simply confused, all the half-demon could manage to do was twitch the right side of his face in rage/shock/bewilderment for several moments. During this time, Yusuke set Kagome and her backpack down on the ground without noticing the half-demon, which turned out to be a very good thing as he surely would have dropped her had he noticed Inuyasha's rather disturbing amount of twitching.

"What's going on?" asked Inuyasha, finally able to pick an emotion.

"This is," Kagome answered simply, holding the book Koenma had given Yusuke, opened up to the page with Masaruten on it, up to Inuyasha's face. "This sword can open up a portal to anywhere in time, and its last known whereabouts were here in the feudal era, according to the book."

"So, if we find the sword…" Inuyasha muttered, putting two and two together.

"Yup, we can find Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei and bring them back home," finished Yusuke with a triumphant smirk and a small chuckle. "If I'd left enough pieces of Naraku around to make a grave for him, I'd be dancing on it right now. Not only did I kill the bastard, but now I'm gonna' undo his final attack. Serves that freak right for messin' with me."

Yusuke's smirk grew even wider, and he let out another chuckle before setting off the path down towards the village. Inuyasha stared after him for a second as a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

"I forgot…he still thinks that Naraku is dead…" he said quietly, gulping a little as he thought about the prospect of dealing with Yusuke should the Spirit Detective find out that he was left out of the loop.

"That's no good…" added Kagome with equal worry. "What should we do? Should we tell him?"

"I don't think so. I think he'd be a lot better off just thinking that Naraku's dead," advised Inuyasha, shaking his head for emphasis. "Besides, Naraku's probably off somewhere recovering. What're the odds that Yusuke would even find out that he's alive anyway?"


	26. Chapter Twenty Five: Life as a Castaway

**To the readers/reviewers:** Sorry, I know I promised that updates would be faster, but I ran into a complication. See, for every story, I plan it out on a rather detailed outline beforehand. Unfortunately, it was recently disposed of by parties unknown, and so I had to try and recall exactly what I had written down from memory alone. Don't worry, it still turned out the way I wanted it to, so, without further ado, here's the next chapter.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Twenty-five: Life as a Castaway**

Kenshin had never really minded chores. In fact, he had always found them a little enjoyable, for they allowed him to pretend that he was just a normal man with a normal life, if only briefly. For now, however, even when he had finished hanging up the last of the clothes up to dry, this little fantasy of normalcy seemed to extend to the rest of his life, as well. He had no enemies to fight, and, more importantly, he had more friends to enjoy life with than ever. He was instantly reminded of this when Kuwabara came bursting out of the dojo holding what looked like a rice ball, tailed closely by Sano and Yahiko.

"Hey! I called that rice ball, it's the last one!" cried Sanosuke, his indignation fueling his sprint.

"You've already had more of them than all of us, Kuwabara!" chimed in Yahiko, trying futilely to keep up with the other two. "Stop being such a pig!"

"I got it fair and square, you're just being sore losers!" Kuwabara retorted before raising the rice ball up to his mouth in mid sprint in to claim his prize.

He never got the chance to bite down, though, for Sano quickly dove at the orange haired boy before that happened, tackling him to the ground. The rice ball was suddenly caught in the middle of a wrestling match between the two, constantly switching hands as they fought over it and made desperate attempts to take a bite. Kenshin smiled amusedly over the scene and let out a small chuckle. This had been a frequent occurrence since Kuwabara had started living at the Kamiya Dojo. The prize wasn't always a rice ball, but each little match followed the same pattern. Not surprisingly, Sano was always the one who came out on top in the end. After all, Sano was physically one of the strongest people, if not the strongest person, that Kenshin had ever seen. Kuwabara wasn't weak by anyone's standards, but he couldn't match Sano.

_'Still…he always seems to fight like he has more strength than he actually possesses in these scuffles,'_ Kenshin noted as he watched the duel continue. _'He's clearly not holding back…but it does make me wonder if he has somehow lost his true strength…'_

Suddenly lost in thought, Kenshin failed to notice that the rice ball had accidentally been hit with considerable force by Kuwabara, and was now flying towards the his face. With a small squelching sound, the piece of food hit the swordsman right between the eyes, splattering rice all over his face and knocking him onto his back as he let out a feeble "oro".

"My rice ball!" cried out Kuwabara and Sanosuke in unison, each wearing a look of the utmost horror.

This despair was soon replaced with physical pain as Kaoru's hit them both in the back of the head with what some might consider unnecessary vigor.

"I keep telling you that someone's going to get hurt in these little brawls, and now it's finally happened. You should both feel ashamed," she chided as her two victims rubbed their new bruises.

"You're the only one that hurt anybody," mumbled Kuwabara, promptly receiving a second blow to his cranium.

"Now, now, little missy, don't take out your anger on us," Sano said as he slowly stood up, and then flashed a mischievous grin before continuing. "You're just mad that we'd never fight over the food _you_ cook like that."

Kaoru tried to hit him with another punch, but the lanky ex-mercenary quickly moved outside of her range and raced off, not eager to face any more of Kaoru's wrath. She seriously looked like she was considering chasing after him for a moment, but she managed to contain her anger to an "I'll deal with you later" look in his direction, before turning back to Kuwabara, who was still sitting on the ground and clutching his head, although now he was looking up at Kaoru with disdain. Undoubtedly, she had some punishment in store for him, and therefore Kenshin chose this moment to walk over to the pair.

"There is no need to give the boy a concussion, Miss Kaoru," he stated with an assuring smile. "I am just fine, that I am."

"Alright, I'll let him off of the hook this time," relented Kaoru, and then looked down at her newest student with a wry smile on her face. "Just don't go acting like a blockheaded thug _all_ the time, Kazuma, okay?"

At this, Kuwabara's eyes grew wide with bewilderment as he looked up at his Kaoru, and he lowered his hands slowly from the back of his head. Both Kaoru and Kenshin knew him well enough that simply calling him Kazuma, which Kaoru had been in the habit of doing, wouldn't get this kind of a reaction out of him, and all playfulness quickly left their expressions.

"Are you alright, Kuwabara?" asked Kenshin, kneeling down next to the boy.

"Yeah…it's just…" started Kuwabara somberly, looking down at the ground. "That sounds just like something my big sister would say to me."

"Oh…" was all that Kaoru could really manage in response, unsure of whether an apology would be appropriate.

Rather unexpectedly, Kuwabara stood up and smiled warmly at her. The smile didn't look fake, which puzzled Kaoru and Kenshin even more.

"But y'know, that's probably a good thing that you're like her. After all, she's the only person who could keep me out of trouble. I still got in lots of trouble anyway, but it would have been a lot worse without her," he said, and then chuckled as he recalled a few of the many lectures he'd had over the years. "Well, I'd better go clean up the dining room. See ya."

Kaoru stared dumbfounded after the boy as he walked back towards the main building, not really knowing how to react. Kenshin however, was smiling knowingly.

"I believe he's finally come to accept his situation, that he has," he said out loud for Kaoru's benefit. "I'm glad. Many people in his situation lose the will to even continue to live."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. He's not exactly the type of person to be beaten down so easily," Kaoru concurred, but after a pause began to muse out loud. "I just realized something, we never really did find out exactly what happened to his friends and family…it hasn't sounded like they are dead whenever he has talked about them…"

"That is a question I have wanted to ask as well, Miss Kaoru," replied Kenshin with a nod. "However, I still believe it is too early to ask him about the details, and besides, I'm not all together convinced that he knows exactly what has become of his comrades either, that I'm not."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

After over several weeks of playing hostess to yet another wandering, penniless martial artist, Misao was beginning to wonder if all red-haired young men were polite and intelligent. Most men that were as aware of their good looks as Shuichi was seemed to endlessly take advantage of them, but Shuichi was ever the perfect gentlemen, and even seemed to actively avoid using them for…well, anything. Not that he really had to do anything for them to have an effect. Recent conversations between Okon and Omasu had been dominated largely by debates on whether or not he was "too young", although they generally ended up in agreement that he had been lying when he had said he was fifteen.

Misao, of course, was never really interested in him in such a way. It wasn't that she didn't like him as a person, in fact, she found him quite good company, but she only had eyes for one person for the type of thing that Okan and Omasu were talking about. That person was, of course, Aoshi Shinomori. At the moment, she had just arrived at the temple where he meditated every day, and where she came to bring him lunch every day. As she stepped into the temple grounds, here ears picked up the sounds of some kind of scuffle.

_'Has someone attacked Lord Aoshi?'_ she wondered in a panic as she dropped the lunch she was carrying and raced off towards the sounds. _'He never brings his kodachi to the temple, if someone with enough skill attacks him with a weapon…'_

She rounded the corner and suddenly stopped as she saw the source of the sound. Shuichi and Aoshi were engaged in what looked like extremely intense hand-to-hand combat. At first, she felt relieved, for Shuichi and Aoshi had knew each other, albeit not very well, but that still meant that this was just a sparring match. Upon realizing this, however, she was a little shocked, for she had never imagined Shuichi to last but a few moments against Aoshi in combat. In due turn, this caused her to become just a tad bit angry, as it meant that Shuichi had been holding back significantly when Okon, Omasu, and herself had fought him. Just as she was thinking this, however, Aoshi spun away from a palm thrust from Shuichi and let loose a hard kick at Shuichi's side. While the redhead blocked it, the force from it was enough to send him skidding back a few feet, separating the two combatants.

"You weren't being arrogant at all, your footwork is quite remarkable," Shuichi commented as he wiped some of the sweat from his forehead. "Wouldn't you agree, Misao?"

"Wha-of course it is! Lord Aoshi is the strongest person in the entire region, if not the entire country!" she answered enthusiastically, refusing to be surprised that Kurama had noticed her.

"That doesn't surprise me at all," replied Shuichi, smiling at Misao's near worship of the man in front of him, and then bowing politely to that same man as was customary after a sparing match. "Well, I should head back to the Aoiya. It will be getting more customers soon and I will be needed. That was an excellent match."

"Agreed, it was quite interesting," stated Aoshi, returning the bow. "I shall head back as well. I used up too much energy to meditate well, so I may as well head back and eat there."

The trio walked back towards the temple's entrance, where Misao scooped up the now probably squashed lunch she had brought as stealthily as she could. It wasn't until they were near the bottom of the temple steps that conversation started again.

"Perhaps I could find some rope and you could use a pair of wooden kodachi next time," suggested Shuichi.

"Rope?" asked Misao, throwing the redhead a puzzled look over her shoulder.

"Yes, a whip is my primary weapon," Shuichi replied smiling patiently as he always did when asked to explain something. "However, seeing as we wouldn't want to cause any serious injuries to each other, a rope would be a good substitute for a sparring match."

"I have never encountered anyone at your skill level who uses such a weapon," Aoshi remarked. "It would be interesting to see how you use it."

"I'm afraid I'll be a bit rusty. I haven't used it since…" began Shuichi before pausing and wincing ever so slightly. "Well, since arriving here, I suppose."

Misao suddenly felt a twinge of guilt as she noticed the sad expression that had flashed briefly over Shuichi's face. Something about the conversation had caused him to think about his comrades, of whom there had been no trace thus far. The rest of the walk back to the Aoiya consisted of Misao trying to lighten the mood with various topics of conversation and Shuichi pretending, poorly, to be in high spirits. When they at last returned, Shuichi and Misao headed towards the restaurant's kitchen to help with running the restaurant while Aoshi departed to eat. However, Kuro put his large hand on Misao's shoulder just as before she entered the kitchen itself.

"Hey, you got a letter from Tokyo today," he said, pulling an envelope out from his shirt. You might want to read it before you get to work just to make sure it doesn't get dirty."

"Right, thanks, Kuro," she said, smiling as she headed out of the restaurant portion of the Aoiya and into the garden to get some privacy.

She looked down at the envelope and smiled. It was from Kaoru Kamiya, whom she had met during the small war against Makoto Shishio. Her and the rest of the "Kenshin Group", as they were sometimes referred to for the sake of convenience, had ended up staying in Kyoto for quite some time to recover from their injuries, and over that time Misao and Kaoru had become good friends. The result was that they would occasionally correspond with each other through letters just to let each other know how their respective lives were working out. Still smiling, Misao unfolded the letter and began to read:

_Dear Misao,_

_It has not been that long since I last wrote, but there have been some sudden changes going on over here at the dojo. Well, I suppose that really only one thing actually changed, I got a new student. He doesn't have any money, so he's another freeloader that I have to look after, but I just couldn't turn away from someone that shows this much potential. He's not exactly a master strategist, but he's really very strong, athletic, and a hard worker. I suppose I should tell you his name. It's Kazuma Kuwabara, although if you ask him he'll say it's "The Great" Kazuma Kuwabara…_

_'That name…'_ thought Misao, stopping suddenly, and after a moment's pause almost dropped the letter in shock. _'That's the name one of Shuichi's friends!'_

Without pause, Misao burst out into a full blown sprint towards the kitchen, almost causing Shiro to drop several bowls of miso soup as she flew on by him.

"Shuichi!" she called out with far too much volume for the relative smallness of the kitchen, drawing the rather panicked stares of everyone in the kitchen, and several from outside it. "The friend that you're looking for called Kazuma Kuwabara, does he call himself "The Great" Kazuma Kuwabara a lot?"

"Yes…" said Shuichi slowly before suddenly realizing why she would ask such a question. "Have you…?"

"Yep, we found him!" she announced joyously. "Tomorrow morning, we're taking the train to Tokyo!"

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Hiei was not the type of man who was at ease just sitting in one place for too log, and fortunately, working with Hajime Saitou as a policeman had proven to satisfy him in that respect. Saitou apparently lived in Tokyo, so after digging a little more for information in Osaka, the pair had taken a train from Kyoto to the capitol. Tokyo had been largely their base of operations, but while the missions they went on tended to be in that region, they were still varied enough to keep Hiei from growing bored.

Recently, it had become more and more frequent that Hiei was beginning to receive his own missions as he got used to the system. For a human, Saitou was regarded fairly well by the fire demon, but, as was the fire demon's nature, Hiei found himself enjoying the solitude of these new solo missions. At the moment, he had just wrapped up with the "neutralization" of a bandit that had been targeting Kanazawa's gold merchants, wreaking havoc on the city's commerce as an effect, and was now eating a small meal at a low key restaurant before taking the train back to Tokyo. Much to his chagrin, he had found food more necessary now that he had lost his spirit energy.

Halfway through the meal, he heard loud yelling coming from across the restaurant. Looking up, he could see that a group of five drunks was the source of the problem.

"Hey…hey…hey…you theres…shweet thing," jeered one of them at a female patron, there with her husband and children. "Leave that guy and come over here so you can get some real lovin', huh? Huh?"

"Wha're you lookin' at, stupid?" yelled out another to the woman's husband. "You wanna' go? 'Cause I'll go!"

Hiei, irritated with these men not for their amoral behavior, but for their volume, gripped his katana as he prepared to silence them. However, a young man had already walked up to the drunks. He was by no means an intimidating looking person, seeming to be of average height and weight, and he wore a kind looking smile. However, he was wearing what looked like standard samurai garb, albeit it was slightly worn, and wore a sword on his belt, though he lacked the usual ponytail or topknot that one would normally associate with a samurai, letting his short, black hair fall naturally from his head.

"Excuse me, but I think you guys have had too much to drink," he said politely, still smiling. "You should probably leave before you get into some kind of trouble."

"Trouble? You bein' the one in trouble," retorted the first drunk, stumbling over his words as he stood up, ostensibly to try and fight the boy.

"I am? Well, I'll just have to get out of trouble then, I suppose," replied the boy, still smiling.

The drunk lunged at the boy, but right before the man's fist connected, the boy dodged the blow with speed so great that Hiei was now suddenly very glad that the drunks had been causing such a fuss. The boy moved like lightning in retaliation, striking each man once with his fists in an instant. As the drunks collapsed to the floor and the boy apologized to the stunned waitress next to him for the commotion. Hiei had suddenly forgotten about his meal. Fighting bandits and crooks was all well and good, but this boy before him seemed like a challenge. Since his fight with Saitou, Hiei had been practicing his sword technique quite often, as technique would become more important without his spirit energy, and now he finally had a chance to truly test his skills. That was his favorite thing about this era, swordsmen could challenge other swordsman to duels, kill them, and no fuss was made about it.

The fire demon waited until the boy had left the restaurant, and then left to follow him, being careful to stay far enough back to avoid attention. Eventually, the boy entered a large garden near the center of the city and stopped to gaze out on the lake in the garden's center. Noticing that the garden was empty save the two of them, Hiei decided that it would be their battleground. He didn't want anyone to interfere in this test of his.

"It's illegal to carry a sword in public, boy," stated Hiei as he walked up to within a few meters of the boy.

"Yeah, it is," stated the boy simply as he turned around and smiled at Hiei. "I don't suppose you could let me go for this, could you?"

"Hn, don't be stupid," responded Hiei coldly as he drew his katana. "You know as well as I that I wouldn't have bothered to follow you here this far if I intended this to be resolved peacefully."

"You knew I could tell you were following me and you kept it up anyway?" replied the boy, his constant smiling now truly starting to annoy Hiei. "You must really be itching for a good fight. Still, you shouldn't be fighting people who are out of your league for no reason, or you won't last very long."

"Hn, keep talking like that, fool. It will make it all the more satisfying to kill you," Hiei spat back as he got into a fighting stance.

"Before we begin, I'm pretty sure it's proper to introduce ourselves before a duel," said the smiling boy as he put his hand on the hilt of his katana. "I am Soujirou Seta."

"Hn, there's no need to tell you such trivial information," scoffed Hiei, disgusted with the "proper" nature of his opponent. "After all, it will just be useless when you are dead."

Wasting no more time, Hiei rushed towards his opponent, the details of his uniform giving way to a blue blur as his speed increased rapidly. Soujirou seemed to make no move to dodge the attack as Hiei approached, but suddenly, as Hiei swung horizontally at the boy's torso, he seemingly disappeared. Hiei could barely keep his mouth from dropping open. That a human that who could never have received any sort of training on the use of spirit energy could move that quickly seemed unthinkable to him, but the rapid sound of footfalls from behind him confirmed that what he had seen was no illusion.

Fueled by desperation, Hiei whirled around in time to parry Soujirou's first strike and quickly leapt backwards onto the branch of a nearby tree to avoid letting Soujirou put him on the defensive. Unfortunately, Soujirou seemed to have no trouble jumping, and it took but half a moment for the boy to come flying at Hiei with that same unthinkable speed. However, a moment had been all Hiei had needed to regain his composure and, with adrenaline rushing through his blood, he parried the strike and launched a furious offensive. So fast were his strikes that one could barely separate the sounds made as each strike was parried, and the fight was moved from the tree back onto the ground as Soujirou dodged, parried, and all around nullified every last one of Hiei's strikes. Seeing that his attacks were failing, Hiei leapt back from his opponent, trying to find an opening.

'_This boy…I can't touch him. He's as strong as Saitou, if not even stronger,'_ thought the fire demon as he caught his breath. _'How could someone be this strong without even being able to use spirit energy?'_

"Wow, you might be the fastest person I've ever seen," complimented Soujirou, still smiling happily. "And that's saying something, since I've seen the Battousai himself in action. Unfortunately for you, I'm not only faster than you, but you telegraph your attacks pretty bad."

"Shut up!" roared Hiei, once again rushing the boy in a rage.

That rage suddenly turned into frustration, for once again his attack was easily dodged, but this time, Soujirou started striking back. The speed of the attacks was almost too much for Hiei to even handle, and he received numerous shallow cuts as he was pushed back towards the lake in the middle of the garden. Knowing that he couldn't be allowed to get pushed back much further, Hiei again leapt towards a nearby tree, but this time Soujirou rushed after him so fast that Hiei couldn't even make him out until the boy had caught up. Hiei had no chance to block as Soujirou slashed into his side with enough force to send him slamming into the ground below.

Hiei rolled away and leapt to his feet just in time to avoid being decapitated, but before he could regain a fighting stance, Soujirou was upon him. Hiei suddenly found his sword being knocked from his hand, and he desperately dove after it. He snatched the blade out of the air before it even hit the ground, but when he turned to face his adversary, he found his neck suddenly resting on the tip of a katana.

"You fought well, but you never really stood a chance against me," stated Soujirou with his seemingly eternal cheerfulness, "You're an interesting guy, though. I've got a feeling that we'll meet again, mister spiky-haired policeman."

With that, Soujirou moved his sword away from Hiei's jugular, and dashed off into the garden before Hiei could regain his composure. Growling, Hiei stood up and sheathed his sword.

'_Without my spirit energy, I simply am unable to beat the strongest humans of this era. I've been too focused on simply becoming stronger, and my technique has suffered for it,'_ he surmised as he checked to bleeding on his wounds. _'Still, if this boy is as good as Saitou, he is definitely one of the strongest in the era. I'll have to ask Saitou about him when I get back to Tokyo.'_

Taking one last look off in the direction that Soujirou had left in, Hiei left to go catch his train to Tokyo


	27. Chapter Twenty Six: Crossroads

**To the readers/reviewers: **Hello people! I know that by this point this is super redundant, but I can't tell you guys enough how much I appreciate you guys reading and reviewing my story. Heck, I appreciate the people who don't review, too. You all rock hard. Anywho, LadyAkina asked the question that I'm sure is on all of your minds: "Where are the other characters?" Don't worry, the next few chapters will hail their return. In fact, a certain character who has been gone for a particularly long time will get a large chunk of the chapter all to themselves. I'm not going to tell you who, though, because while you rock hard, "your anguish sustains me" (10 coolness points to whoever can figure out where that quote is from).

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Crossroads**

The train ride from Kyoto to Tokyo had been quite relaxing. Kurama had found it quite serene to see Japan as it was before the modern age filled the land with urban development. Youko Kurama had never seen it fit to ever visit the human world until he was forced to escape there, so Kurama had no memories of the beautiful Japanese countryside. Misao had insisted on coming with him since she apparently knew the people who Kuwabara was staying with and saw this as an opportunity to visit them.

When the train had arrived at Tokyo, Misao had immediately sped Kurama off in the direction that supposedly would take them to the Kamiya Dojo, which was where Kuwabara was. Over two hours later, they were still looking.

"Misao…I believe that we are lost," Kurama said finally, upon reaching no less than their twenty-seventh dead end.

"Of course we're not lost! I'm a ninja, and ninjas _can't_ get lost!" yelled Misao indigently before coughing slightly and calming her voice down. "I'm just giving you a tour of the city, that's all."

"You've never actually been to this dojo, have you?" questioned Kurama, though he was already convinced that he knew the answer.

"No…" confirmed Misao, hanging her head in melodramatic defeat.

Kurama smiled amusedly at the girl's antics before taking the pause in travel to take in their surroundings. The buildings in this part of Tokyo were worn down and small, and the streets were dusty and littered with abandoned junk. The people walking the streets were, for the most part, equally seedy looking. It was clear that Misao had accidentally lead them into the lawless part of Tokyo. This was made even more clear when several unruly looking men walked up to Misao with piggish grins on their faces.

"Hey there, little girl," spoke one. "This is a toll street, don't ya' know? If you and your little friend wanna' walk through here, then you've got to pay a toll."

"What are you talking about? There isn't even such a thing as a toll street," retorted Misao accusingly, causing the thugs the start chuckling arrogantly.

"Now don't play dumb, girly," started up the thug again. "Now pa-"

The thug's sentence was cut short, since it is awfully difficult to talk when someone has slammed the sole of their shoe into your cheek and sent you crashing partway through a wall. The thug's attacker looked a bit like a thug himself, wearing black and white fighting gi and a red headband below unkempt hair. He was tall, too, tall enough to slam his foot into a man's face while keeping his hands casually in his pockets, anyway.

"Don't worry, boys, I'll cover for 'em," said the newcomer, slightly muffled from the fishbone that hung out of his mouth as he lowered his foot back to the ground. "I'm all out of money, though. I hope you take payments in beatings."

Two of the remaining thugs began to beg for mercy while the last one started to run for it. Not even listening to the pleas of the thugs in front of him, the tall man took his hands out of his pockets, grabbed both of them by their collars, and flung them after their fleeing companion. All three thugs were propelled into a woodpile at the end of the street by the sheer force of the throw, causing the smirk that the tall man had been wearing the entire time to grow even wider upon their impact.

'_Amazing,'_ thought Kurama as he observed the fight. _'In terms of raw physical strength, this man is insanely powerful for someone who can't use spirit energy. Sango would be jealous.'_

"What'd you do that for, Sanosuke?" demanded Misao of the man, much to Kurama's surprise. "I was just about to take care of them!"

"Hey, you can't blame me. I haven't had a good brawl fer way too long," replied Sanosuke, managing to flash a toothy grin while still keeping the fish bone steady in his mouth. "What're you doin' in Tokyo, anyway, ninja girl? And who's your friend?"

"I am Shuichi Minamino," answered Kurama, bowing politely. "We're in Tokyo looking for a friend of mine."

"Yeah, you've probably met him, since he's staying at the Kamiya Dojo," interjected Misao.

"Oh, you must mean Kuwabara," replied Sanosuke with a nod, then taking a hard look at Kurama. "Huh, you don't look as tough as he said his pals were…well, looks aren't always right about people, I guess. Follow me, I'll take you guys to the dojo."

Kurama had to stop himself from correcting Sanosuke's butchery of the saying. The man seemed fairly easy going, but he also seemed eager to pick a fight, and the last thing Kurama wanted to do was try and take on someone that strong sans spirit energy. As they walked down the street, it seemed that everyone else shared his sentiments, for every potential ruffian that was in their path hastily got out of the way upon seeing Sanosuke, often accompanied by hushed conversation and pointing.

"You wont have to worry about getting into any scraps around here if you stick with me," said Sanosuke, apparently noticing Kurama's observations, though he didn't turn around. "I used to be a pretty famous mercenary around here. Even had a nickname, 'Zanza'."

"And why did they call you 'Zanza'?" asked Kurama, puzzled by the strange name.

"You know what a Zanbatou is?" Sanosuke responded, causing Kurama's brow to furrow as he tried to recall the word from his memory.

"It's a giant sword meant to slay mounted soldiers and their horses in one swing, isn't it? They were never really used because they were far too big for anyone to…" Kurama trailed off as made the connection between the gigantic weapon and Sanosuke's nickname, suddenly unable to find anything else to say.

Sanosuke didn't even reply verbally, he simply turned his head around and smirked mischievously at the astonished redhead for a moment, clearly enjoying the conversation. Even after Sanosuke had refocused his gaze on the road ahead of him, Kurama was still staring dumbstruck at the back of his head.

'_He could actually use a zanbatou in combat **effectivel**y? That's beyond ridiculous,'_ Kurama thought, shaking his head as if to try and jumpstart his brain again. _'What kind of people is Kuwabara living with?'_

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Kuwabara stepped out into the Kamyia Dojo's courtyard with a sigh of relief. Kaoru had been particularly relentless today, but he supposed that it was with good reason. He was well beyond the basics now, and at this point, the majority of his lessons focused on learning the actual moves and manuvers unique to the Kamiya Kashin Style, which required an incredible attention to detail. Good reason, however, is no antidote for fatigue, as Kuwabara was experiencing first hand. He was, in fact, about to take a short nap before he heard the dojo's gate open and Sanosuke's voice from its direction.

He headed over towards the gate to find the Kenshin and Yahiko had arrived before him. Standing behind Sanosuke was a girl that he had never seen before, and next to her stood…

"Kurama!" cried out Kuwabara in surprise, drawing everyone's stares in his direction.

"Why's he calling you Kurama, Shuichi?" asked the girl, looking at Kurama with slight befuddlement.

"It's an alias I use, Misao. You may still call me Shuichi," explained Kurama, finishing the sentence mere milliseconds before Kuwabara had placed him in a friendly headlock.

"I knew that you were out there somewhere," declared Kuwabara as he gave his friend a long overdue noogie. "I bet you've been out there havin' fun without me, haven't you?"

"It would be easier to answer if you let go of me," managed Kurama, which of course only made the headlock tighter.

"So, is this one of the people from your special unit?" asked Kaoru, just arriving at the gate from the training room.

Kurama glanced up at Kuwabara with slight worry at this question, but he received a reassuring look in return. Kuwabara wasn't a genius, but he knew not to tell ordinary humans about spirit world matters.

"Yeah, this guy here was the brains," replied Kuwabara, finally releasing Kurama from the headlock. "Not that he can't kick some ass too, right Kurama?"

Yahiko, who had been unusually silent throughout the conversation, had suddenly walked up to Kurama and begun to inspect his face very carefully. Kurama, ever the polite one, controlled his reaction to the mere raising of an eyebrow.

"Are you alright, Yahiko?" asked Kenshin, saying exactly what everyone else was thinking.

"Yeah…" said Yahiko, at last stepping back from Kurama. "But is it just me, or does Shuichi look a lot like you, Kenshin?"

Suddenly, everyone else present took Yahiko's place in inspecting first Kurama, and then Kenshin, as though running down a checklist. Yahiko was, in fact, quite correct. Their size, complexions, and most especially their hair were incredibly similar.

"Wow…I can't believe I never noticed…" said Kuwabara, scratching his head.

"Is there even a difference between 'em?" asked Sanosuke, still looking back and forth between the specimens.

"Yes, there is," concluded Misao after a moment's pause, and then proceeded to cough politely, close her eyes, and raise her index finger up in a very scientific manner. "Shuichi is better looking."

Kurama turned bright red and Kenshin drooped his head in melodramatic depression to such a degree that one could almost here a large bell tolling a single, sad note. Eager to extract himself from what he saw as a rather embarrassing experience, Kurama pulled Kuwabara aside, explaining that they needed to talk in private for a while. When they had reached an isolated corner of the dojo grounds, Kurama finally stopped and turned to Kuwabara.

"So, Naraku got you with that blast as well?" began Kurama.

"Yeah, it was weird. My spirit sword went right through it…" replied Kuwabara, suddenly turning more serious. "And now I can't use my spirit energy, do you think that blast sucked it right out of me?"

"No, I don't think so. The same thing has happened to me, but I believe the link between ourselves and our spirit energy has been severed. It is here, but we can't use it," Kurama answered. "Such a thing could be fixed by Koenma, if we find a way to get back."

"So, you haven't thought of anything, huh?" said Kuwabara glumly, turning his eyes towards the ground briefly. "If even you can't think of anything…"

"Don't worry, I _will_ find a way back to our time," assured Kurama, catching his friend off guard with his determination. "Even once I do, though, we must make sure that we don't leave anyone behind in this era if they were also defeated by Naraku."

"Oh, man, I almost forgot about that. Damn, no offense, I'm kinda' glad that you got stuck here with me," Kuwabara responded, grinning widely. "I wouldn't stand a chance at getting back without a braniac like you helpin'. Hey…how did you find me, anyways?"

"Unlike you, I was transported just outside Kyoto, Once there, I found a group of ninjas that-" Kurama began before he was cut off by an excited gasp.

"Ninjas? Really? You're staying with a bunch of ninjas?" asked Kuwabara leaning down to Kurama's eye level and shaking him excitedly. "Wow! I bet they do super-cool stuff all the time! Do they use their throwing thingies to make breakfast? Have they done any ninja magic?"

"No, they are just normal people living normal lives who also happen to be ninjas," explained Kurama, though he could not help but smile slightly as he freed himself from Kuwabara's grasp. "They do, however, have an extensive amount of connections throughout Japan which I hope to utilize to help find anyone else who has been stranded here."

Kuwabara was a little disappointed at this revelation, and wore a small frown that showed it, much to Kurama's apparent amusement. Nonetheless, this did not deter the boy's overall good mood.

"By the way Kuwabara, you are living with some interesting people yourself," continued the fox demon. "That tall one is incredibly strong for a regular human."

"Sano? Yeah, he's strong, alright," replied Kuwabara with a chuckle. "Everyone says that Kenshin is the invincible one, though. You know, the one that kinda looks like you."

"Him? You're kidding," was the shocked reply, with Kuwabara nodding in return. "Well, Musashi himself wasn't supposed to be an impressive sight, so I suppose someone like Kenshin could still be an impressive swordsman."

"Yeah…wait…who's Mushasi?" Kuwabara asked, now suddenly feeling very confused.

Kurama simply smiled and began to walk back towards the others. Kuwabara followed, and his confusion giving way to elation once more. After all, it's not every day that a friend who you thought was gone forever suddenly appears at your doorstep.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Saitou looked down at the paperwork that littered his desk with an emotion that bordered on pure loathing. That was arguably the worst part of working for the government: every time you got into even so much as a scuffle, you had to file a report or there would be hell to pay from the bureaucrats. Not only that, but recently, paperwork had become more and more necessary as he continued to investigate on the foreign arms dealers that had given Shishio his battleship. Even with both himself and Chou on the case, they weren't getting very far, aside from linking the arms dealer to one of several large syndicates in China.

Of course, Saitou had always considered Chou a bit of an idiot. However, he was an idiot who knew the ins and outs of Japan's underground, and he was tough enough not to get killed by ordinary gangsters. Originally, Saitou had planned for his new find, Hiei, to help with the investigation, but Hiei had the opposite problem. He was sharp, stealthy, and a solid swordsman, but he had absolutely no idea how crime worked in Japan. It had been an almost stunning revelation for Saitou, considering that Hiei had the potential to become an extremely effective subordinate, and it had been regretful to let Hiei be given other assignments so that he could get his feet wet.

_'Speaking of…'_ thought Saitou as his ears picked up the light, quick steps that he had come to associate with the short swordsman and then greeting him without looking up from his desk. "I trust you didn't get lost this time."

"Hn, watch your tongue," growled Hiei from the doorway as he closed the door behind him. "I did, however, encounter something unexpected that I need you to give me information about."

Saitou smirked inwardly as he looked up from his desk. Not once had he heard Hiei refer to anyone as though they were his superior. Saitou didn't really car much so long as Hiei did his job, but the other officers had come to despise the irritable young man.

"Oh? And what is that?" Saitou asked flatly.

"I encountered and fought a strong swordsman named Soujirou Seta while in," answered Hiei with equal flatness. "He was strong enough that I assumed you would know something about him."

Saitou raised an eyebrow momentarily, although his overall expression was kept stony. Soujirou was no longer a threat, now a wanderer like Himura, but technically he was still a wanted man as Soujirou the Tenken, Shishio's top warrior and assassin.

_'There is no way that Hiei can beat Soujirou,'_ realized Saitou. _'However, I doubt Seta will kill him, since he's been subjected to Battousai's weak ideals. If that is the case, tracking down Seta could be a fast way to get Hiei proper experience. The boy certainly needs it.'_

"Feel lucky that you survived, better than you have been killed by Seta," said Saitou finally, succeeding in drawing an icy stare from Hiei. "He's wanted dead or alive by the government for assassination and conspiracy against the state, but since he has been lying low as of late, we didn't want to waste resources chasing after him."

"Hn, is that so?" scoffed Hiei, trying to feign disinterest. "And I suppose that you're going to send me after him now that I've found him."

"Technically, I don't have to order you to do it. No orders are necessary to pursue a wanted criminal, especially one this dangerous," corrected Saitou, who had to hold back a smirk as he noticed a slight twitch from Hiei after he had uttered the word "dangerous". "If you see it fit to pursue him, I can have archives get you his file."

To the average person, Hiei would seem perfectly calm, but Saitou was far more insightful than the average person. He could see the growing excitement within Hiei as he anticipated another fight with Seta, and it had been growing as the conversation had gone on. Even as Hiei nodded and rose to leave the room at a casual pace, his eagerness was apparent.

"One more thing," Saitou said, stopping Hiei before he exited the door. "I'll also have them send you the file on Kenshin Himura, also known as 'Battousai'. He defeated Seta in the past, so you may wish to meet with him before you begin your search, just make absolutely sure that you mention nothing at all of me if you meet him. Oh, and you may wish to change into a new uniform, you've bled through that one."

Hiei cursed as he looked down to his side to see a dark red staining the blue uniform, and stormed down the hall muttering about how worthless the medical ward was. Saitou smirked openly now, quite pleased with this turn of events. After reading Battousai's file, Hiei would undoubtedly meet with and fight the man, since it was obvious that the spiky-haired youth could not resist a good fight. No doubt such a meeting would make Himura more convinced of Saitou's death, which he had faked during the incident with Shishio. After all, Saitou had been the one to convince the government not to go hunting for Seta in the first place, so it would seem only fitting that the government would be hunting Seta down were Saitou dead. Combine this benefit to Hiei getting a boost in gaining much needed experience, and it was overall a very beneficial action.

_'I hope you haven't become lax on me, Battousai,'_ thought Saitou. _'This one might scar up your other cheek if you aren't careful.'_


	28. Chapter Twenty Seven: Confrontations

**To the readers/reviewers:** Hello again! I said I would update faster, didn't I? Well, there goes one New Years resolution down the tubes, that leaves only seventy-three more to break! Awesome, I'm halfway there! At any rate, thank you folks for sticking with this super-duper-extra-long fic. Don't worry, we're on the home stretch (barring any crazy creative epiphanies), so just hang on. **Note:** In "Chapter Twenty-Three: An Ounce of Luck" I have changed a plot detail. The picture that Inuyasha and Kagome found no longer depicts the Kenshin Gumi + Kuwabara in a photo studio, but in front of the Kamiya Dojo. Stuff would've gotten way too complex if I hadn't changed that. Anyway, enjoy the next chapter.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Confrontations**

Like most every other chore at the Kamiya Dojo, wood gathering was Kenshin's job on most days. Since he anticipated this, he normally kept the dojo adequately stocked with neat piles of chopped wooden logs, but since the dojo was playing host to two more people on this particular night, more wood would be required for the baths and the kitchen. They would only be staying for a day or two, so not much wood would be required, however. Besides, Kenshin didn't mind taking a walk through the woods on a night like this one. The sky was clear and starry, the air was crisp and cool, and the fireflies were glowing throughout the woods like a multitude of floating lanterns.

As Kenshin took in the nature around him, however, he noticed something else. He was being watched. He kept calm, however, and decided to walk further into the woods, acting as though he was taking a simple stroll. Though he was perfectly confident he could defeat whoever was watching him, he also did not want the sounds of the battle to reach the Kamiya Dojo. There was no need to get Kaoru and the others worried for nothing. Finally, he reached a clearing and stopped his walking.

"You should come out now, that you should," he announced. "If you have business with me, then I would kindly ask for you to state it."

An arrogant sounding chuckle was the response from the trees to Kenshin's right, and he turned to see the spy drop down to the ground. Surprisingly, it was apparently a policeman, albeit a short one. He wore the pristine blue uniform of a policeman, at any rate, and had a white bandana underneath spiky black hair that made Sano's look tame. His most notable feature, however, was his eyes. They were a deep crimson, and they had a steely glint to them as they settled on the red haired samurai.

"Hn, I would have expected no less from the infamous Kenshin Himura," stated the short man. "In fact, I expect a great deal more."

The man then proceeded to draw his sword, which Kenshin noted was a katana rather than the standard western saber. Policemen had to get special permission to carry a katana, which meant that this one must have been very good. Either that, or he was not a policeman at all.

"Why do you draw your sword against me?" asked Kenshin. "The Meiji government and I are on the same side, that we are, so you couldn't have been ordered to. Who are you, and what is it that you want?"

"Hn, my name is trivial information, but if knowing it will end this pointless talk, it is Hiei. As for what I want…I heard that you are strong. I would like proof," was the reply, and half a moment later the speaker was flying at Kenshin with his sword ready.

Hiei was fast, but not fast enough to catch Kenshin unprepared. Leaping quickly to the side to avoid the horizontal slash made by his opponent, Kenshin drew his sword and waited for his opponent to make a move. Sure enough, Hiei wasted no time in leaping at Kenshin, his sword raised high above his head as he fell towards his target. Holding his ground, Kenshin parried the attack to the side and let lose with an attack of his own at his seemingly helpless adversary. To Kenshin's great surprise, that was quickly parried as well, and his opponent launched a barrage of lightning quick sword strikes at him.

Kenshin managed to parry and dodge all of the attacks, but it was not without some slight difficulty. Hiei was one of the fastest swordsmen he'd ever encountered, and he hadn't been expecting that. As if reading his thoughts, the short man began to bob and weave around Kenshin, trying to disorient him with his speed as he continued to strike. Kenshin, while still parrying the attacks, was visibly showing struggle to do so, and this prompted Hiei to back off, suddenly leaping through the trees all around Kenshin.

"You're fast, that you are," admitted Kenshin as his opponent continued to dance around him. "But you are not _that_ fast."

Sheathing his sword, Kenshin shifted into his battoujutsu stance and waited. Judging from Kenshin's lack of action, Hiei likely thought that Kenshin might be having trouble detecting where he was, but he was oh so wrong. Kenshin was aware if his every movement, and when he finally leapt out of the trees from behind and to the left of Kenshin, he did not find an open target as he had hoped. In one fluid motion, Kenshin drew his sword with godlike speed, spinning in Hiei's direction as he did so. Only instinct saved Hiei from being hit directly, as he barely managed to get his sword in front of him to try and block the powerful attack.

However, Hiei had no ground to brace himself against, and as a result, the sheer force of the attack was enough to send him flying backwards through the air until his back slammed hard against the thick trunk of a tree. He managed to avoid falling down face first into the ground after bouncing of the trunk by putting his knees and arms down to brace himself, but he was still in agony from the attack. With a small chuckle, he rose to his feet and sheathed his sword.

"That is enough," he stated, failing to hide his exhausted breathing. "I see…so you were merely feigning struggle, weren't you? You had me in hand the whole time."

"Not completely, no. I admit that your speed threw me off a fair amount," Kenshin replied, putting away his own weapon. "However, I would still ask for your true reason for being here, that I would."

"I am looking for Soujirou Seta," came the response. "I was told that you were the one who defeated him."

Kenshin was slightly taken aback by the abruptness of the question. He had thought that there would be no hunt for the boy after he had given the Meiji government his full account of the battle with Shishio, especially since he held suspicions that Hajime Saitou's death had been faked. Now, however, he was not so sure.

"That's correct," confirmed Kenshin slowly.

"Then you will tell me his weakness," demanded Hiei. "And if you know, tell me where he is cowering."

"I don't know where he is, that I don't," said Kenshin with a new sternness to his voice. "However, I must ask that you leave him to his peace. He is no longer a threat, that he-"

"Hey! Kenshin! Who ya' talking to?" cut in a Kuwabara's voice from the undergrowth.

Both Kenshin and Hiei looked immediately in that direction, but Hiei was easily the more affected by it. His eyes were wide with shock as Kuwabara and Kurama both stepped into view.

"You were taking a while so we thought that you might…need…" began Kuwabara, slowing down as he noticed who Kenshin had been talking to. "Shorty? Is that really you?"

"Hn, of course it's me you imbecile," snapped Hiei as he regained his composure. "So, the two of you of you _are_ here after all."

"Yes, it seems that we were lucky in that respect," replied Kurama, who then turned to Kenshin with an apologetic look. "I hope our friend didn't cause you too much trouble. He can be quite hostile."

"It was no problem, that it wasn't," answered Kenshin with his usual politeness. "If this is one of your missing friends, perhaps he would like to stay and catch up on things."

Hiei snorted loudly at the prospect, causing Kenshin and Kuwabara to throw him a rather startled gaze. Kurama was not so much surprised as he was concerned, and his brow was furrowed as he studied his comrade. He recognized the policeman's uniform, and he had definitely heard signs of battle as he and Kuwabara had approached the scene. There was a definite possibility that Hiei had settled down in this era in a more permanent fashion.

"Hn, if Himura refuses to tell me anything more about this Seta worm, than I am done here. I have no interest in idle chit-chat," scoffed Hiei, and he turned to leave.

"Wait! What about getting back home?" yelled Kuwabara after him. "Don't you want to go home?"

"Home? What a foolish notion," Hiei spat back. "To claim a place as one's home requires attachments, and I have none."

With that, Hiei leapt into the trees, and while Kuwabara was too shocked to follow, Kurama was quick to give chase. Kenshin decided to follow as well, though he maintained a polite distance. If they were really comrades, then the odds of Hiei attacking Kurama were slim. However, the red haired wanderer had doubts about the small policeman's ability to control his more violent urges. After a few short moments Hiei stopped on a large bough and turned to face Kurama, who landed on a branch a few meters away. The thought occurred to Kenshin that Hiei had just wanted to rid himself of Kuwabara.

"Hiei, I know that you want to return just as badly as we do. We might need your help to do so, and we certainly need to know your location to take you with us once we find a way," stated Kurama, his voice carrying a hint of concern.

"Please, as if I'd want to go back to being ordered around again. Here, I am free, and I am alone," retorted Hiei. "Once I have regained my full power, this place will have everything that I could ever want. What could I possibly want to return for?"

"There is Yukina," replied Kurama quickly, and Kenshin noticed Hiei's face twitch at this. "And there is also he-"

"There is no one else!" snapped Hiei angrily, cutting Kurama off with a tone that one could quite easily liken to denial. "Yukina…is safe now. She is the _only_ thing of importance there. If she is safe, then I don't care if I ever return."

"Liar," said Kurama stonily, to which there came no reply.

After a final contemptuous glare, Hiei leapt through the trees in retreat, leaving Kurama and Kenshin behind. As Kurama hopped down from the tree next to Kenshin, he let out a small sigh. Hiei was something of an artist when it came to stubbornly denying things, and it frustrated Kurama greatly on occasion.

"Really, sometimes I wonder about him," spoke Kurama, shaking his head. "He isn't stupid, but he refuses to accept the truth sometimes. It's like…"

"Like he is desperately trying to be attached to nothing and no one," finished Kenshin, much to Kurama's surprise. "There were a lot of warriors who tried to think along those lines during the Revolution, that there were. I met one of those warriors recently, one that was on the other side, a captain of the famous Shinsen Gumi, that he was. It turns out that he had gotten married. From what I could gather, it seemed like he had been, well…"

"Whipped?" said Kurama with a smile, taking his turn to finish the other's thoughts. "Do they generally turn out like that?"

"Most of the time. That emotion is one that is very hard to deny, that it is," answered Kenshin with a smile. "At any rate, don't worry about your friend. I have some connections with the government that I could use to keep track of him."

"Thank you, that would be a great help," Kurama acknowledged with a respectful nod. "Do not burden yourself too much for our sakes, however."

Kenshin smiled at the young man's politeness and returned the nod. The pair had just begun to head back towards the direction they came from when Kuwabara came bursting through the wilderness, demanding to know where "that little jackass" had gone. Kenshin managed to calm the boy down and head back to the dojo with both boys, all the while going over the events that had just played out in his head. They had talked about returning "home", which was quite strange. They certainly looked Japanese, so they couldn't be talking about a foreign country, yet were they simply talking about a certain place in Japan, they seemed perfectly capable of making any sort of journey of that nature. Unfortunately his musings were interrupted, for he was immediately chewed out by Kaoru for forgetting the wood, and he slunk back to the woods in shame to finish his task, losing his train of thought. It appeared that he and that certain Shinsen Gumi captain shared the same fate, in this regard.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

While the Meiji Era of Japan still allowed for duels, and still allowed many other actions that would be considered unsightly by those living in modern times, laws still prevented the land from falling into lawlessness. In the Feudal Era, the concept of "law" was meaningless. In the feudal era, there would never have been a vast manhunt for someone like Soujirou Seta, just as there was no such thing for Naraku. At this point, the hunt for Naraku was being conducted by one man, Miroku. Since separating with Inuyasha and his other allies some time ago, he had tirelessly begun to hunt for the menace on his own. At first, he had struggled, for there was little information for him to go on. Gradually, though, he picked up clues, small ones at first, but those small ones led him to bigger clues, and those to even bigger ones.

Eventually, they had led him here, walking through the woods towards that demonic aura which he had permanently ingrained within his mind. On the other side of these woods stood Naraku, waiting like the spider that was marked on his back. It was the middle of the night, and the moon shone down from on high, seeping through the breaks in the trees as the monk walked purposefully through the wilderness. He clutched his staff tighter with each step he took. The moonlight grew brighter as he neared the end of the woods, and he closed his eyes momentarily to focus himself for what lay ahead.

_'This is it,'_ he thought, and had he spoken these words, they would be spoken with the resoluteness of steel. _'Remember: no regrets.'_

At last he emerged from the woods, and there standing at the edge of the cliff stood Naraku, the hood of his baboon cloak down as he gazed out over the raging river that lay below the cliff. Slowly, he turned to face the monk, wearing sinister smirk as he regarded his foe. For several moments, there were no words, only the sound of the river flowing mightily below.

"So, you _have_ come alone, after all," said Naraku at last, his voice cold and arrogant. "Fool monk, what could you hope to accomplish alone."

"I am never alone, Naraku," replied Miroku sternly. "Or have you forgotten all about this burden weighing down my right hand?"

"Of course not, I gave it to you, after all," Naraku responded with a sneer. "But surely, you have not forgotten these, have you?"

A loud buzzing filled the air, and up from behind Naraku rose a veritable platoon of the wasp-like demon insects that had prevented Miroku from defeating Naraku so many times before. Miroku, however, showed no change in his stony expression.

"I regret to inform you, Naraku, but those are not what has been saving you from the Wind Tunnel," began Miroku, causing a barely detectable flinch from Naraku. "No, what has been saving you has been my own desire to live. Up until now, I had a reason to live beyond your defeat. I had, if you will, something to look forward to."

Miroku closed his eyes briefly before continuing. He could not help but think about her now, as he was referring to her indirectly. However, he quickly removed her image from his thoughts. If his resolve was to remain firm, then he could not let his thoughts dwell there.

"Now, however, I no longer have that thing to look forward to. It has slipped beyond my grasp. Therefore, my desire to live beyond your death is gone, and those insects can no longer protect you," he continued, slowly beginning to unwind the prayer beads wrapped around his right hand. "This is the end, Naraku, the end of everything."

With one final motion, he finished undoing the prayer beads around his right hand, and the gaping maw of the Wind Tunnel appeared on his outstretched palm. Pure shock was all that Naraku could manage as he tried to dig into the ground at his feet. Around him, his insects were being sucked into the Wind Tunnel in droves, and Miroku winced as the pain from their poison began to course through his body. Yet, the Wind Tunnel did not close, and Naraku was pulled closer, and closer towards destruction. At last, his grip could no longer hold on any longer, and he went careening towards Miroku's palm. His body crumpled as it was sucked inwards through the hole, and he only managed to emit a final, piercing cry of agony before he disappeared into the void beyond.

Panting heavily, Miroku sealed the Wind Tunnel and fell to one knee. That it was not gone yet did not concern him. Curses like his generally took a short while to fade in his experience, though he doubted now that he would live even the few minutes it would take to see it. Sweat drenched his clothes and fell from his forehead as the poison began to flow through him. He grimaced from the pain, but he knew that death would not be immediate. No, it would be slow and painful, as Naraku would have liked it. This did not matter to the monk, however.

"At last…at last it is over," he panted, managing to eek out a smile through all the pain. "At last I've finally killed that monster…"

"Not quite, monk."

Turning abruptly in alarm, he saw Kagura, one of Naraku's most deadly servants, standing at the edge of the woods with a small smirk on her face as she regarded the monk. He trembled as he processed what he had just heard. He could not contain the horror that he felt from those words, the horror that he was about to die for nothing. Fear overtook him, and he instinctively stood up and began to slowly back away from the messenger of his failure.

"Had that been the real Naraku, then yes, you would have defeated him," stated Kagura as she walked towards the slowly retreating monk, taking out her fan. "However, Naraku is no fool. He knew what you were planning and sent a demon puppet, knowing that you would not be able to tell the difference. After all, since the Sacred Jewel had been shattered once more, you may have thought it possible that Naraku had no shards in his possession."

Miroku gritted his teeth and abruptly stopped backing up. He had felt no ground beneath his heel after his last step backwards. He knew that he was at the edge of the cliff. He briefly considered attacking Kagura, to at least die with some semblance of honor, but at that moment, intense pain from the poison coursed through his body. The pain was too intense, and was forced down to one knee, groaning in agony.

"You were right when you said it was over, however," Kagura continued, raising her fan above her head. "For you, anyway."

Swiftly lowering her fan, the wind sorceress sent three purple blades of energy careening towards Miroku's vital regions. In desperation, he tried to put up a barrier of energy, but it was only strong enough to deflect the blades way from his vitals, cutting into both of his shoulders and his left side, instead. The force from the blades, however, was enough to send him tumbling down from the edge of the cliff and towards the river below.

As he fell through the air, a sudden urge to live was reborn within him, and in a last ditch effort, he focused his energy and put himself into a healing trance. While he knew that it would not actually rid himself of the poison, he knew that it would sustain his life a little longer. It was unlikely that in that time he would find a way to heal himself, but he knew that he had to try.

_'I cannot give in to death just yet!'_ he thought, just before hitting the water. _'I cannot die, not until I have destroyed you, Naraku!'_

With his blood staining the water red, Miroku finally lost consciousness, his fate now in the hands of the river.


	29. Chapter Twenty Eight: Falling Into Place

**To the readers/reviewers:** Thank you very much for your continued support of this fic despite the sporadic updates. I'm really sorry that I'm not updating quicker, and I'll try to update quicker in the future. I've said that before, haven't I? Ah well, here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Falling Into Place**

Miroku's eyes snapped open and he bolted upright instinctively. However, he quickly regretted this decision as pain coursed through his body. He lay on his back once again only to find that half of his body was laying down on the edge of some body of water. Curious enough to endure the pain, he then sat up once more, albeit much more slowly. The body of water that he had been laying at the edge of was some kind of small pool lake, although whether or not one could call it a lake was questionable, not only due to its size, but due to the fact that it was in a cavern. The source of this water, Miroku noticed, was a small waterfall on the far side of the lake, coming from an opening big enough for a man his size to get through, albeit with not that much room to spare.

"Amazing, the Gods must truly be on my side if I fit through that thing," he thought out loud. "Given the speed of that river when I fell into it, there were likely some rapids up ahead."

"Oho? Just woke up and you're able to think this clearly? Well done, sir monk," replied a sing song voice behind Miroku.

Startled, Miroku whirled around to face the person who had spoke to him, and he was greeted with a wide smile and a wave from a young male…ghost? Suddenly becoming even more startled, Miroku hopped backwards slightly, almost falling into the lake. He brought his staff up in front of him, which he had miraculously held onto, but he found himself still too weary to stand quickly.

"Oho? Have I startled you, sir monk?" asked the ghost, peering in close with his hazel eyes. "Ah, you weren't expecting a ghost, right? Well, I can't do anything about that part of my appearance, being ethereal sort of has that drawback. I can change other things about my appearance, however, though before you start suggesting, I'm afraid I like the samurai topknot style far too much to change it. Why, I haven't been able to wear this way in life that often due to my travels…ah, but you don't want to hear about that, right?"

_'Quite a verbose one…'_ observed Miroku, looking at the ghost with the look of someone trying to smile at an awkward joke.

"Of course, I could change my clothes to anything that I wore while I was alive," continued the ghost, oblivious to Miroku's reaction as he began to flash rapidly through several sets of clothes before finally setting on an all blue samurai garb, complete with wooden sandals. "There we go, it's been a while since I've done that. Now, I suppose your wondering how you're alive then, right?"

"Yes, I was poisoned and suffering from several nasty wounds…" replied Miroku, suddenly stupefied as to how he hadn't died and noticing that the cuts he had received, while still not completely sealed, had stopped bleeding.

"Oho? _Nasty_ wounds you say? You should be glad you had them," responded the ghost. "Those wounds weren't heavy enough to kill you, but they let out enough blood to weaken the poison in you."

_'Kagura…did she do that intentionally?' _Miroku wondered. _'I have had suspicions that she holds no love for Naraku ever since that incident with the new moon, but was she really trying to save me so that I could destroy Naraku later? It's hard to read her intentions…' _

"There was still a chance that you could have died, but you were smart enough to put yourself in a healing trance, like a good monk, right? I couldn't heal you, but I could lend you some spiritual power to give it a bit of a boost," continued the ghost, his smile widening as Miroku raised an eyebrow. "Don't mistake me, I could have never done that while I was alive, but being dead lets you use spirit power a lot easier since, well, you're a spirit."

Miroku nodded in agreement, because really, there weren't many other reactions for him to choose from. Most ghosts tended to pass on to the next realm peacefully, from what he understood, and usually only the spirits that couldn't let go of the living world lingered. This one, however, was clearly lingering, but he was nothing like the often corrupt spirits that fell into the latter category.

"Ah, we should probably introduce ourselves, right?" said the ghost with another warm smile before bowing politely. "My name is Nobu, of the Oshima clan. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Miroku, no clan, and likewise," replied Miroku, standing up slowly and then bowing respectfully.

It was during his bow when Miroku noticed the small glimmer of light from the far corner of the cavern. Curious, he squinted through the darkness and determined the source, that being the golden end of a katana hilt that was glittering from the sunlight that shone down through a small hole in the cavern ceiling. From the looks of the rocks around the sword, the hole appeared to come from simple rock erosion. Miroku, however, didn't ponder this for long, for he became captivated by the sword. The blade itself was sheathed, but the scabbard was enchanting, with intricate silver glyphs arranged artfully over the black surface. However, this beauty was contrasted by what it lay next to: a crumbling human skeleton.

"Oho? Noticed the sword, have you? Glad you like it, I made it myself," chimed in Nobu, noticing the monk's gaze. "It was my most treasured possession when I was still alive. After all, I put my heart and soul into forging it. Even the scabbard took weeks of effort to create."

"I can tell," replied Miroku with a nod. "Did you give it a name?"

"Well, it would be kind of silly not to name something you put that much effort into, right?" answered Nobu with a small laugh. "I named it Masaruten."

"To surpass heaven…a bold name," Miroku commented before rising to his feet. "At any rate, I must be going. Is there another exit to this cave?"

"Follow the water flowing down from the pool," Nobu directed, pointing towards a small stream of water that was running down one side of a narrow passageway that was partially hidden by the darkness of the cave. "You still seem weak though, Mister Miroku. It might be safer to recover your strength for a bit, right?"

"I will have time for rest soon enough," replied Miroku before once again bowing politely to Nobu. "Thank you very much for your kindness, Nobu. May your spirit soon find peace."

Nobu bowed politely in turn, and Miroku turned to leave the cave, leaning heavily on his staff. He knew that Nobu's advice had been sound in terms of his own safety, but he simply could not follow it. Even if it had been a demon puppet that had confronted him, Miroku knew that Naraku still had to be nearby, and he was far more concerned about Naraku escaping then his own weakened state.

_'Fortune has given me a second chance,'_ he thought as he finally exited the cave and squinted as sunlight light up his vision. _'I will not waste it. Naraku will die from the very curse that he killed my father and grandfather with, I swear it.'_

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Sango looked around the fire as she finished eating her dinner. The mood was gloomy around her, and no one was speaking. She sighed softly at the depressing scene that had become the norm over the past few days. It didn't surprise her, though. They had good reason to be glum.

What had started off as a journey filled with hope and anticipation had turned gradually into a depressing journey that reeked of futility. For well over a week, Yusuke, Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Shippou and Kirara had been searching for the sword Masaruten, but to no avail. Myoga the flea, Inuyasha's "vassal", had been useless when they consulted him on it, as was Totosai, who everyone had figured would have been their best source of information regarding the weapon. Since they had left Totosai's volcano, they had been wandering without direction, stopping at any towns they came across to ask questions about the sword. Not surprisingly, this method had proved fruitless as well.

_'I suppose a sword with the power to control time itself wouldn't be easy to find,'_ reasoned Sango. _'Still, we're just stumbling around it the dark. The sword could be anywhere, if it even exists.'_

"I'm going for a walk," muttered Yusuke from across the campfire, interrupting Sango's thoughts.

Slowly, the boy rose from his the log he was sitting on and made his way into the woods at the same pace. While his face remained neutral, his feet were dragging as he walked, and Sango noticed that he had barely nibbled on his food.

"Poor guy…" said Kagome sadly once Yusuke had disappeared into the trees. "You don't think he's losing hope, do you?"

"Naw, he's tougher than that," assured Inuyasha, though his expression seemed less confident. "If only we could just find a lead, even a little one…"

_'At least he's mostly gotten over his guilt. From what Kagome said, he was trying to put all the responsibility on himself,'_ Sango thought in the silence that followed. _'He doesn't deserve a shred of blame, unlike me…'_

Sango shook her head to rid it of the image that appeared in concert with her thoughts. It was the same image that had been constantly resurfacing ever since the last battle with Naraku. Hiei, with the glow of Naraku's energy blast about to overtake him, and one corner of his mouth upturned so slightly that it was just barely detectable. When she had learned that the fire demon had not died, it had brought temporary relief from the grief and guilt that she had been overwhelmed with. However, it soon resurfaced. She had managed to control it enough to keep it from showing too much outwardly, but it was still there. Though Hiei was not dead, he was stranded in another time, and, in her mind, she was responsible.

"Are you feeling okay, Sango?" asked Kagome, apparently noticing Sango's change of emotions.

"What? Oh, I'm fine," Sango assured, although Kagome did not seem in the least bit convinced.

"I saw a springs a short while away, why don't we go freshen up?" suggested Kagome. "A good bath always helps me relax."

Sango nodded somewhat hesitantly as Kagome went to grab a pair of towels from her bag. She had to admit that a nice bath in a hot-spring sounded good, but Kagome had asked it so suddenly. Kagome had always been good at reading her friends' emotions, so Sango couldn't help but wonder just how much she had noticed.

"Don't worry, I'll watch Inuyasha for you," chimed in Shippou as the two young women left the camp.

"What the hell are you talkin' about, runt?" demanded Inuyasha angrily. "Why would I need to be watched?"

"You might look."

"What the…I'm not like Miroku! Besides, why would I even want to?"

"Because Kag-ow! Stop hitting me!"

Inuyasha and Shippou's bickering finally faded from hearing, leaving Kagome and Sango were walking alone towards the springs. The darkness would normally make such a trek difficult, but the sky was incredibly clear on this night, allowing the countless stars to work in tangent with the moon and light the woods with soft light. Sango looked upward, trying to appear aloof as she gazed at the stars. It wasn't working.

"You've got to stop beating yourself up over this," spoke Kagome finally. "I know it's your business, but I just can't stand seeing you like this all the time."

"I'm fine, really…" replied Sango, her voice far weaker than she had intended.

"No, you're not, and you've got to snap out of it," Kagome chided. "What Hiei did, he did by his own choice, and there was nothing that you or anyone else could have done."

"But…"

"No buts!"

Sango sighed and hung her head slightly. Kagome had good intentions, but it was obvious the demon slayer wasn't going to give in so easily. Then again, if it was a battle of stubbornness, Kagome was easily the favorite.

"Besides, we're going to rescue him soon anyway," continued Kagome, giggling slightly. "And then you two are going to have a nice, long, private talk."

"What?" blurted Sango, caught off guard enough to flush slightly. "What do you mean? I mean, why would we want to…?"

"Because you like each other," Kagome stated simply, causing Sango's redness to immediately increase in intensity. "It's pretty obvious."

Sango stuttered for a few moments, unable to get a complete word out of her mouth in response before finally sighing in exasperation. There was no way out of this, for she knew it to be true. However, admitting to it would bring along so many complications. She had not wanted to admit it until she felt she could handle it, and right now, she did not feel like she could at all.

"It's just it's so…complicated," she said, having regained her composure. "Even if I do, and even if he does, he'd never admit it."

"I can help you there," responded Kagome, smiling deviously, though Sango gave her a doubting look.

"Even so…" said the demon slayer, pausing as she brought up another painful memory that had occurred shortly after the one she had recalled earlier. "There's still Miroku."

"You still have feelings for him, huh?" Kagome asked, and though Sango gave no reply, she knew the answer. "Well, the springs are just up ahead, we can al all about this while we're there."

Indeed, Sango could see the steam through the trees just up ahead. After that conversation a bath felt better than ever. However, this eagerness proved folly, for, as they hastily exited the undergrowth and neared the spring, they missed one important detail: someone was already occupying the spring, and, as one would expect, they were in the nude. Were it just a woman they did not know, it would have been awkward, but escapable. In fact, were it a _man_ they did not know, it might even be possible to escape making too much of a scene, though it would be embarrassing. However, it turned out that not only was it a man, but it was a man they knew. In fact, it was a man they both knew very well. Thus, the reaction to this revelation was appropriately extreme. Sango turned even redder than before, seemingly unable to do anything but contort her face into a highly mortified expression, and Kagome let out a small yelp and covered her eyes at the sight.

"Well," stated Miroku calmly. "This is certainly a reversal of roles, isn't it?"

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Eventually, Miroku did pull himself out of the spring and clothe himself, although the process seemed to take far too long, in Sango's opinion. Of course, even if he had been hasty, Sango doubted she would have been able to recover from the embarrassment in time to do more than stutter angrily at him. However, seeing as he had indeed taken a sufficiently long time to get fully dressed, her embarrassment was under control long enough to ask the question on both young women's minds.

"Where have you been, Miroku?" she asked concernedly.

"I had…things to take care of," answered the monk somewhat hesitantly.

"What kind of things?" countered Sango.

"Oh, you know me," Miroku replied, smiling mischievously and rubbing the back of his head. "Unfortunately, they aren't quite taken care of, so I'm afraid I'll have to be going now."

Miroku rose off the rock he was sitting on and began to walk towards the woods. Immediately, Sango noticed his weakness. He was leaning heavily on his staff, his feet were dragging against the ground, and he was moving for more slowly than a normal walking pace. In addition, she noticed that clothing was torn in several places, each gash in his robes surrounded by what looked like dry blood.

"Miroku, are you all right?" asked Kagome, apparently noticing the same things that Sango was.

"Huh? I'm fine," Miroku responded, putting on another smile. "I'm just a little weary from travel is all."

"You've been injured…badly," said Sango, now more concerned than before. "We want to help you, Miroku, don't lie to us."

"Don't tell me you've been trying to fight Naraku on your own?" gasped Kagome, suddenly putting the pieces together. "That's suicidal!"

"Is…is this true, Miroku?' asked Sango, meeting Miroku's gaze briefly before the monk turned his head towards the ground at his feet.

For several moments, no one spoke. Miroku was about to break the silence when movement could be heard from the undergrowth, and it suddenly occurred to Sango that Yusuke had gone for a walk in the same direction that led to the spring. Sure enough, it was Yusuke who stepped out from the woods, and the situation suddenly became far more complex.

"Well, damn. I can't go on a walk without finding out that people have been lying to me," stated the boy flatly, his expression stony as he regarded the three in front of him. "In case you might be wondering, I only came here because I sensed monk boy over there, so don't think I was trying to peek on you or something."

"Yusuke, we were just-" began Kagome before the spirit detective cut her off.

"Trying to protect me?" finished Yusuke for her. "Damn, I'm sick of people doing that. Has that bastard recovered yet, Miroku?"

"I'm not sure," answered Miroku, still clearly surprised that Yusuke was in this era at all. "If he hasn't though, it won't be long before he has."

Yusuke nodded and raised his head to the stars, thinking. He was now faced with a choice: to continue his quest to rescue his friends, which was becoming increasingly hopeless, or to abandon it and seek revenge instead. After a few moments, he lowered his head back to the others.

"If he's almost recovered, then he's going to go after the Sacred Jewel again, right?" he began flatly. "If he gets those, its bad news for everyone, so we can't let him get too much of a head start or we'll be in trouble. Plus, he's probably a lot weaker without them, so it's a good opportunity to kick his ass. So..."

"Yusuke what are you saying?" asked Kagome.

"I'm saying that you guys should go after that Naraku bastard," he answered, his voice suddenly becoming far more heated. "You don't have to guide me around anymore, I'll keep looking for this sword on my own."

His fists suddenly clenched and a blue aura of energy began to flicker around him like wildfire as his emotions became more passionate. His teeth clenched, and when he spoke again, his words rang with a new intensity.

"I know that there's not much of a chance that it's even out there, so I'm not going to make you guys look for it with me, especially if that _freak_ is still out there. Still, if there's _any_ kind of a chance that it is, if there's just a tiny little thread of hope that I can hold onto, then I'm going to keep holding onto it, and I'm _never_ going let it go!"

Sango suddenly caught her breath as Yusuke finished speaking, suddenly recalling her last conversation with Hiei on the night before Naraku had sent him to another time. What Hiei had said had been exact opposite of what she had just heard, that one had to let go of everything to find strength.

_'Yet, Yusuke is saying that he will never let go, and his will to hold on seems to be giving him even more strength,'_ Sango mused, noting the flickering aura of spirit energy that still lit up the air around the boy. _'Then…should I keep holding on to my own hopes as well, even if they seem impossible?'_

"Yusuke, don't be silly," chided Kagome with a smile as she walked up to the boy and put a hand on his shoulder. "We're with you until the end. We'll find Masaruten together."

"Um, excuse me," interjected Miroku suddenly. "Did you just say that the sword you were looking for is called 'Masaruten'?"

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**Note:** Nobu is my first attempt at a legitimate OC in fanfiction, so please let me know about what you think of him so far, and thank you for reading.


	30. Chapter Twenty Nine: The Ultimate Toy

**To the readers/reviewers:** I've been gone a long time, and some of you probably hate me for it. I apologize, but really, I don't have much of an excuse other than to say that I needed a bit of a break to let my brain cool down. This is, after all, not a professional piece of work, and I do it because I love doing it. If I were doing it just for the sake of pumping out another chapter, not only would it not be fun, but it would probably be a terrible chapter, too. At any rate, feel free to throw stones at me or whatever, I totally deserve it. I hope this makes up for it, though. There's even some rare fluff in there, so enjoy!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Ultimate Toy  
**

The sun shone down brightly upon Japan's countryside from its midmorning position in that glorious place between sunrise and high noon, with not a cloud to deter its warm rays. The weather fit the mood of those traveling beneath it perfectly, having been greatly uplifted from Miroku's revelation on the previous night. Indeed, had the monk himself not been so weary from his injuries and constant traveling, they no doubt would have sprinted all the way to the cave he had described immediately after learning that it housed Masaruten, so great was their enthusiasm. Fortunately, this mood had carried over to the morning, and they were making great time.

"So, you're saying that this ghost guy, Nemu…" began Yusuke, checking the monk's story for accuracy for what must have been the sixth time.

"Nobu."

"Yeah, whatever. You're saying that this guy is the one who made the sword?"

"That's what he said."

Yusuke paused and stroked his chin for a moment, which looked a little odd considering how fast he was running to keep pace with Kirara so he could talk to the monk. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and nodded before turning back to Miroku, which also meant that he was facing Sango, Kirara's other passenger, who had been listening to the pair silently for the whole journey.

"I've got it!" declared the boy. "He must be guarding the sword so no ass holes will get their hands on it! Do you think that means we'll need to pass some sort of test to get the sword?"

"That's actually a pretty good question," replied Miroku. "I suppose we'll find out in a moment, that's the cave up ahead."

The group slowed to a halt at the base of a rather bare and rocky looking hill, and as Miroku had said, there was the entrance to some sort of tunnel or cavern imbedded in it, although it was partially concealed by a large rock formation and the natural shadow that the hill provided. Allowing Miroku to take the lead, the group moved slowly into the cave, taking their time to navigate the upward sloping path, for it was slick from water that had managed to escape the small stream that flowed beside it.

"Nobu?" called out Miroku as he entered the cave's main chamber. "Are you there, Nobu?"

"Oho? Back so soon, sir monk?" greeted the ghost merrily, floating quickly out of the darkness to greet his guests. "And you brought friends, I see! Superb! I haven't had so much company since…well, I can't remember. Memory loss doesn't stop when you're alive I guess, right?"

Several eyebrows were raised, but Miroku was allowed to continue acting as the group's diplomat. Getting into a conversation with this chatterbox of a spirit seemed comparable to stepping into quicksand from the look of things, and if anyone stood a chance of talking their way out of it, it was Miroku.

"Unfortunately, we didn't just come to socialize, Nobu," continued Miroku with a smile. "It actually concerns that sword of yours, Masaruten."

"You wouldn't actually want that old thing, right?" Nobu replied with a small laugh. "Why, it's-"

"We know what it is capable of, Nobu, don't waste time trying to hide it," Miroku cut in, suddenly wearing a very serious expression.

Nobu's smile suddenly shrunk. His eyes no longer were wide in merriment, but half closed while retaining an amount of cheeriness to them. Everyone in the group tensed at his change in expression, unaware at what would happen next.

"Ah well, I figured as much. It is obvious that two of your comrades are from the future. I mean, who wears skirts that short in the Feudal Era, right?" spoke Nobu, his melodic happiness retained fully in his voice if not entirely in his expression.

"It's not _that_ short!" protested Kagome, blushing and instinctively tugging down on her skirt, as if she could somehow make it longer through sheer force of will.

"No offense meant, none at all. In fact, I prefer more modern clothing," assured Nobu with a chuckle, and suddenly he had replaced his samurai garb with a black trench coat covering what looked to be a standard business suit, his hair now pulled back into a long ponytail streaked with blond dye. "Looks pretty stylish, right?"

"Give him some shades and he looks like he's right out of a sci-fic movie," mumbled Yusuke, getting a stifled snicker out of Kagome that Nobu failed to notice.

"However, I must wonder _why_ you would want Masaruten," continued Nobu. "You look like you already can travel through time, right?"

"It's a complicated situation, but suffice it to say that we have comrades who can only be rescued by using Masaruten's power," explained Miroku. "Please, you must aid us."

There was a long silence as Nobu looked over the group. Finally his smile disappeared and he slowly closed his eyes. After several moments he opened his eyes once more, and the smile returned.

"Sorry, but no."

"Bullshit!" roared Yusuke, unable to control his rage. "You're going to give me that sword or I'm going to take it from you, you worthless little bastard!"

"Yusuke, calm down," urged Sango frantically, not wanting the outburst to ruin their bargaining chances.

Despite these protests, Yusuke continued to hurl insults at the ghost, and would have lunged at him had he not been restrained by his comrades. Nobu, meanwhile was staring at the youth with widened eyes and a slackened jaw. Were he not ethereal, his skin may have paled. At last, Yusuke finally relented, though it seemed more from a lack of breath than from free will.

"Sorry about that, mister ghost," said Shippou apologetically. "He's just a little-"

"Did you just call that boy 'Yusuke'?" asked Nobu, cutting the little fox demon off.

"Yes..." answered Sango hesitantly.

"As in Yusuke Urameshi? _Spirit Detective_ Yusuke Urameshi?" inquired Nobu, and when he received a hesitant nod in response, his gleeful expression returned in full force. "Amazing, absolutely amazing! I can't believe I'm actually meeting you, this is incredible!"

"Don't tell me I'm related to you or something…" Yusuke muttered, though Nobu failed to notice once again.

"You don't know it yet, Mr. Urameshi, but you become fairly legendary after your time. Anyone who knows anything about spirit energy, demons and the like knows who you are," explained Nobu hastily. "Oops! Can't give too much away, right? Well then, forget what I said earlier, if it's to help Yusuke Urameshi, then the power of Masaruten is at your disposal! Well, once we choose a wielder and they learn how to use it, I suppose."

"There's nothin' to choose. They're my friends, so I'm saving them myself," spoke Yusuke with a shrug as he began to walk over to the corner of the cave Masaruten inhabited, which he had noticed as soon as they entered.

"Wait!" urged Nobu with alarm, drawing stares from everyone present. "You can't use it!"

"Why the hell not?" spat the Spirit Detective, once again very irritated with the deceased time traveler.

Nobu opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly paused, his mouth hanging open for a moment before he closed it. Yusuke merely scoffed, thinking the ghost was being eccentric. Not that he was the only one who thought so. In fact, everyone in the room save Kagome seemed puzzled by this behavior. Instead, her brow furrowed in thought as she recalled Koenma's reaction when asked about why Yusuke was able to travel down the well. He also had hesitated in a similar manner. There was something about Yusuke that they, including Yusuke, were not supposed to know. Unfortunately, she had absolutely no way of finding out what it was.

"Oho? Why, you say?" began Nobu, his composure regained. "Well, Mister Urameshi, it is because you are simply too powerful. Sending you to any, and I mean any, period of time could have serious side effects. Besides, whoever goes must be extremely careful to disrupt as little of the timeline as possible, and from what I hear you're not exactly…subtle, right?"

"Guess that means I can't use it, either," stated Inuyasha, crossing his arms smugly. "I'm just way too powerful."

"Oh, you wouldn't be able to do it anyway," Nobu said with a warm smile. "If a demon tries to use Masaruten's power, they get quite a nasty shock instead, and usually will die a horribly painful death from all the burn wounds."

Shippou gulped loudly, and Inuyasha's smugness quickly disappeared with shock. The contrast between the sing-song voice and the brutal words was a tad creepy.

"So, then it's down to us three," observed Miroku, referring to himself, Sango, and Kagome.

"No, it's not," Sango said, drawing several puzzled looks and one listless stare from Miroku. "If it's a time between now and the present, Kagome would stand out too much, and you're still too injured to go, Miroku. I'm the one who has to go."

Had Kagome not been so focused giving Sango a concerned look, she would probably have noticed Miroku's shoulders fall slightly as though he were being drained of energy. As it stood, however, this small change went unnoticed, for when it came to reading people's emotions, Kagome was perhaps the only member of the group who could do it with consistent accuracy.

"Oho? Awfully eager, aren't we?" Nobu commented as he foated up close to Sango's face as though he were inspecting a racehorse. "Hmmm…you certainly seem to have the spirit…and you look level headed enough. Is it okay with your companions, though?"

There was a series of affirmatives from the others, though some were more reluctant than others. Nobu beamed and clapped his hands together excitedly, though, since they weren't corporeal, they made no sound.

"Splendid! We'll start your lessons whenever you are ready."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Nobu had absolutely insisted that the training would be conducted alone, so the cave's main chamber had been hesitantly cleared out until only he and Sango remained. Even at that point they had not been ready to begin, however. Asking for Sango to wait, the ghost had floated over to Masaruten and placed his hand on the hilt. Once in this position, he had gone into some kind of trance, and a small amount of spirit energy could be detected as he silently continued the ritual. At last, after several minutes of this silent ritual, the spirit energy dissipated and Nobu backed away from the sword.

"Ah, there we are. _Now_ we can start," said Nobu, turning back towards Sango and smiling.

"What was all that about?" Sango asked curiously, standing up from where she had been resting against the cavern wall.

"Well, you see, the Masaruten was bound to my soul as a safety precaution. Wouldn't want it to fall into the wrong hands, right?" answered Nobu. "So, no one could even touch it until I removed the link between it and my soul. You wouldn't be able to use it very well if you couldn't pick it up, right?"

Sango nodded in agreement. For a moment, she just stood there, staring at the sword as it rested near the human bones that she assumed belonged to Nobu. Said ghost gave her a warm smile and an encouraging nod, and she slowly stepped forward. Grasping the hilt in her right hand and the middle of the sheath with her left, she picked Masaruten up off of the ground and unsheathed it. The blade gleamed in the light from, the small hole at the top of the cave, remarkable showing no signs of wear.

"I half expected the actual blade to be pretty average," admitted Sango, turning the sword over in her hands as she inspected it. "But really, it's quite well made. It seems to have remained quite sturdy, and it is pretty light for its length. The fullers must have been very precisely made."

"Oho? I'm glad Masaruten is in the hands of someone so familiar with weaponry," Nobu responded, once again clapping his hands together in excitement. "But that isn't why you wanted to wield the sword, right? Ah well, I shouldn't pry, but its good that you feel strongly about this. After all, the key to using Masaruten is willpower."

"Are you saying it's as simple as wanting to use it?" Sango queried skeptically, prompting a laugh from her ghostly teacher.

"No, no, no, but that is the most basic way to begin to explain it," Nobu assured her. "When I was alive, I couldn't control my spirit energy, so the only way I could tap into the energy of a sword like Masaruten was to have it work through my emotions and other unconventional means. I guess you may as well put away the sword now, this explanation could take a while, right?"

000000000000000000000000000000000000

As Sango trained inside the cave, the rest of the group lounged in various places along the rock outcroppings outside. The only one who had fallen asleep was Yusuke, however, who had fallen asleep laid out on top of large rock with the sun beating down on him. It was a fairly amusing sight, especially considering how energetic the boy had been before. Of course, it was just like Yusuke to be full of energy up until the very moment he fell asleep.

"I should go make sure that this area is safe," suggested Inuyasha several minutes after the Spirit Detective had dosed off. "Can't have that punk getting woken up by some demon, we'd never get him to stop complainin' 'bout it."

Kagome nodded in agreement and smiled as the half demon leapt across the rocky terrain and out of sight.

_'They may fight all the time, but I think those two have become pretty good friends throughout this whole thing,'_ she thought. _'Inuyasha's really matured since I first met him. It's actually kind of amazing.'_

Her thoughts were interrupted by movement from Miroku, who was standing and dusting off his robes. By the time Kagome had turned to look, the monk was already limping his way off in the opposite direction that Inuyasha had left. Throwing a glance back at Shippou to make sure he was still playing with Kirara, Kagome hurried after Miroku.

"Where are you going?" she asked worriedly, remembering Miroku's actions when they had found him in the spring.

"Don't worry, I'm not going after Naraku. Sango was right, I'm too weak to do much of anything right now," he assured her, flashing a smile that would have convinced anyone who didn't know him well. "I just need some time alone to think."

Kagome exhaled softly as she thought about the situation that had developed between her friends. She was going to support Sango in whatever decision the demon slayer made regarding the matter, she'd decided that. Although Kagome had never exactly been a huge fan of Hiei, she wouldn't intervene if Sango took that path. After all, the last thing she wanted was to become like one of her friends back in her time that were constantly urging her to dump Inuyasha and go after Hojo, the most sought after boy in her school who had been anything but subtle in his advances, polite as they were.

Then again, it killed her to see Miroku like this. He wasn't as outward with his negative emotions as Sango was, instead trying to cover them up with his charm, but it was painfully obvious to Kagome that he was hurting. Sango was her friend, but so was Miroku. She had an obligation to at least try and lift his spirits.

"You know, you shouldn't give up that easily, Miroku," she said at last, prompting the monk to give her a surprised look. "You know, with Sango."

"Kagome…I know where I stand," he returned, smiling weakly at her. "You're being very kind, but if she's made up her mind, then I have no right to even…"

"But you don't know that she has, Miroku!" Kagome cut in. "Didn't you hear what Yusuke was talking about last night? How you should never give up on something if there's even a little bit of hope? It reminded me of a race I'd seen once a while ago. Anyway, they were racing around the track and this one guy was way behind everyone else on the final lap, but all of a sudden, the guy in the lead fell down and took everyone with him, and because this guy had kept on trying, he ended up passing them all and winning."

"So, you're saying that to win…I need everyone else to fall down?" asked Miroku jokingly. "

"Gah! You know what I mean!" Kagome said in exasperation. "Just don't give up so easily, that's all I'm saying."

"I believe I understand, yes," confirmed Miroku with a smile, this time a genuine one. "I appreciate the advice."

Kagome watched Miroku continue off towards the woods, but this time with relief. Being on emotional damage control duty was something that she had gotten used to over the course of her travels with her little band of travelers, but it had still been rare to have be there for two of her friends at once.

_'Even as Sango's been getting better, Miroku's seemed to be getting worse, it feels almost like a see-saw,'_ she mused. _'I want to help…but at the same time I know neither of them would forgive me if I got too involved. Man oh man, how do I get myself into all of these complicated messes?'_

Kagome sighed and headed back towards the cave entrance. She knew Inuyasha would be worried if she wasn't there when he showed up. She smiled a little at the thought. Everything that was going on may be a complicated mess, but even while almost everyone around him was having an emotional crisis, Inuyasha would be there as he always was, and whether Kagome realized that or not, that was all the solace she needed.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Sango sat, Masaruten at her side, and watched the wall. Well, not exactly the wall, but rather, a point directly in front of the wall. She'd been doing this for the last ten minutes. Of course, she only knew that she'd been doing it for this long because she had borrowed Kagome's watch. Kagome had explained the numbers system to her before, so she could read it, but it was important that she keep exact track of time right now. The watch's minute hand moved up slightly.

_'Any moment now…'_ she thought, once again focusing on that space in front of the wall.

Just as she completed this though, a bright blue light formed seemingly out of nowhere right at the spot she was staring at, forming a large circle of light that hovered above the ground. Suddenly, a small rock came tumbling out of the circle, and after another couple moments, the circle shrunk and disappeared into nothingness.

"Oho? Only off by a second this time, very good!" declared Nobu excitedly from behind her. "You're learning fast, it's only been two days and I'd say you're past the 'testing it with rocks' phase!"

The thing that was being "tested", of course, was the time portal that Sango created with Masaruten. Wisely, Nobu had decided that they would throw rocks through the portals she made first, and then wait for them to come out several minutes, or hours, later. At first, it had been very difficult. Some rocks hadn't come back, while some inexplicably were found on the ground not a moment after, as though they had been there for a long time. However, by now, Sango had become very precise with the timing, and her last dozen rocks had all been within seconds of their targeted times.

"Well, we've been practicing almost nonstop," Sango said, though she couldn't help but smile at her handiwork. "And you've explained everything so well that it isn't very hard to actually do."

"It's a testament to your skill that you have learned it this fast, anyway," complimented Nobu. "You're the first person I've ever taught this to, so you _must_ be good, right? I mean, there's no one else to compare you to."

"Gee thanks," replied Sango sarcastically, getting a chuckle out of Nobu.

"Now then, it's time for the big test," Nobu declared after the moment of humor had ended. "You're going to transport yourself exactly five days into the future, and then return."

Sango's jaw suddenly dropped. She had just graduated from rocks. Thinking about transporting herself seemed like insanity. She would have told Nobu so, too, if she wasn't so shocked by the mere suggestion of it.

"Now, now, don't look so bewildered," Nobu chided. "It is exactly the same as before. The only difference is what's going through the portal, not the portal itself. It's all mental."

"You're right," Sango sighed. "It's just a little bit of a scary concept…"

"I know, but you can't be afraid," the ghost said. "Remember: you must focus your determination. Doubt could throw the whole thing for a loop."

Sango nodded and rose off her feet. It made sense to get this done now, while she had the technique fresh in her mind. In her mind, she knew she had it down cold, but she needed to prove it to herself emotionally, and rocks weren't going to do that. Besides, it wasn't as if Masaruten took any energy to use. Its spirit energy was completely independent of the wielder's, which was why Nobu could use it in the first place. Taking a deep breath, Sango unsheathed the sword from its scabbard.

Closing her eyes as she held the weapon ready before her, Sango focused her mind on five days in the future. Naturally, she had no idea what five days into the future would look like, but she didn't need to, she simply focused on the concept of five days, and nothing else. Time was all that mattered. She let images of the physical world fade away, until all she was thinking about was five days forward.

Then, almost subconsciously, she removed her left hand from the hilt of the sword and moved it to the edge side of the blade, just above the hilt. Gently placing her thumb on one side of the blade and her index and middle fingers on the other side, she slowly ran her hand up the blade, which she was holding perfectly vertical. As she did so, the kanji for "five days" appeared on both sides of the blade in the wake of her fingers in a glowing blue. According to Nobu, how well solidly the kanji formed indicated the accuracy of the teleporting, and though Sango could not see it, the kanji forming now seemed flawlessly created.

In one smooth motion, Sango cut down with the blade. With a small thrumming sound, a glowing blue line formed where she had sliced downward, and it quickly expanded until it had formed a large circle, just like the portal the rock had fallen out of. Sango's eyes were now open. Knowing she had no time to lose, since the portal wouldn't stay open from too long, she took a deep breath, and leapt through the portal.

There was a blinding light that forced her to close her eyes, and she was vaguely aware of an odd floating sensation, but just as rapidly as it had begun, it ended, and Sango found herself landing on solid ground. Blinking her eyes to adjust to the light, she turned around and watched the portal behind her. For a few moments, it was stable, and then, just as before, it slowly shrunk out of existence.

Looking at her surroundings, she saw the cave around her, complete with Nobu's skeleton. The only thing missing was Nobu himself. Looking around rapidly, Sango began to panic. She didn't know how, but she felt almost certain that Nobu's absence had been her fault.

"It looks like I made it on time after all," came Nobu's voice from above, and Sango looked up to see him descending down from the small hole in the cave's ceiling. "Splendid! You made it exactly on time! Naturally, I had suspected as much, but this confirms it. Well done."

"Wow…that was surprisingly easy…I almost can't believe it," Sango remarked.

"As I said: It's all in your mind. I did say that, right?" replied Nobu with merriment. "It's been five days, it's hard to remember exactly what I said."

Suddenly, a distinctly female voice rang through the cave. Sango could tell it was coming from outside the cave, but it was still very loud, not to mention very angry.

"Nobu Oshima, get back here or I'll hit you so hard with this oar that you'll never be able to wear that stupid smile again!"

"Ah, that would be the ferry girl," explained Nobu, flashing that same smile that had just been threatened with extermination. "She's been after me ever since it was found out that my soul was no longer bound to Masaruten. Good thing I avoided her until now, right? Ah well, take care Sango. Masaruten is in your hands."

With a bow, Nobu ascended through the hole in the cavern ceiling. Shaking her head, Sango once again prepared open a portal. Her nervousness now gone, she could do it even through the ruckus outside caused by Nobu and the ferry girl. Even as Sango stepped through the portal, it continued.

"Oho? You mean I was supposed to go with you?"

"Don't give me that 'oho?' crap! You knew damned well what you were supposed to do!"

"Oho? I did?"

CRACK!

Sango once again found herself back in the cave, but this time, Nobu was right in front of her, and Kagome's watch was on the ground beside him. After blinking to fully adjust her eyes, she sheathed Masaruten and gave Nobu a small wave of greeting.

"You've returned, well done. Like I said, it's all in your head, right?" the ghost greeted her, smiling broadly. "It took you a few minutes to return, it seems, though. Did something happen?"

"Nothing…" Sango replied, barely stopping herself from giggling. "You might, uh, want to lay off saying 'oho', though."

"Oho? Why is that?"

"Never mind…"


	31. ChapterThirty 11th Year of tha Boomerang

**To the readers/reviewers:** Surprise! I've updated again! Bet you weren't expecting that, were you? Well, it's good to see that a lot of you guys are still reading after such a long hiatus. You folks rock hard for holding out so long. All of that aside, enjoy the next chapter!

**P.S.: **I am aware of the misspelling in the chapter's title. It's homage to a favorite band of mine. Internet high five if you can guess who it's to!

**Edit: **God damn, I'm stupid. It's the 11th year of the Meiji, not the 1st. Hell, I had even said that back in Chapter Nineteen: A Change of Scenery. I just forgot, and didn't bother to backtrack. My mistake, problem fixed.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Thirty: 11th Year of tha Boomerang**

After Sango had completed her training, there had been a general consensus that the group would wait until the following day to move to the next stage of the rescue operation. While Masaruten required no expenditure of spiritual energy, just repeating the process of using it constantly was a physically and mentally exhausting exercise. In fact, Sango had been the first to fall asleep, not even staying awake long enough to answer questions about the sword or begin planning her foray through time. It wouldn't be until midmorning the next day that Sango would wake, the sunlight finally too intense for her eyelids to deny. Stretching herself out while simultaneously blinking the sun out of her eyes, Sango looked about her to see everyone else waiting for her.

"Geeze…sorry for sleeping so late," she apologized. "I guess I worked harder than I had thought."

"It's no problem," dismissed Kagome, grabbing a pair of rice balls and handing them to the demon slayer. "We're basically out of food, I'm afraid, so these will have to do."

"Don't worry, we're a days travel away from Kaede's village at the most," Miroku said, calming Sango's worry before it even occurred. "We'll be able to eat a nice meal there before you set off."

"Yeah, figured it'd be easier for if you started out in Tokyo," Yusuke added. "I'm not sure…but I think they had trains where you're goin'…or I guess when you're goin'…you know what I mean."

"Well, we shouldn't waste time, then," suggested Sango, rising to her feet. "We should just say farewell to Nobu first, though."

The group nodded in agreement and began to head towards the cave entrance. As they approached, however, Nobu himself floated out to greet them. Smiling in his usual manner, the ghost threw them a friendly wave.

"Ah, I had good timing. You're ready to leave, right?" spoke Nobu. "Well, before you go, I'd just like to go over the essentials one more time, Miss Sango. First rule…"

"Always try to blend in," responded Sango on cue.

"Second rule…"

"Change as little as I possibly can."

"Third rule…"

"Never, under any circumstances, go to a time where I already exist."

Nobu smiled and clapped his hands excitedly. He had made Sango memorize the three rules the previous afternoon. Being a man who had always been very fond of his own handiwork, he had even given the rules a name: The Oshima Keys to Successful Time Travel. No one was aware of it, but he had actually just made those rules up while training Sango on how to use Masaruten.

"Oho? Memorized them have you? Very good," approved Nobu. "Just one last thing that I neglected to mention before, however: since my soul is not bound to Masaruten, and you are incapable of binding it to your own soul, anyone can now wield it if they know how. Even demons can at least hold it, even if actually trying to use it will get them tortured to death."

Sango nodded in understanding while Inuyasha's eyebrow twitched slightly behind her. For the second time, Nobu had spoken of the painful death any demon trying to use Masaruten would receive as though he were talking about how lovely the weather was. There was something quite disturbing about that.

"Well, we should be going. Farewell to you, Nobu, and thank you for all of your help," Sango said, bowing politely to the ghost, a gesture that was mirrored by her companions, though Inuyasha and Yusuke opted for small nods instead.

"Farewell to all of you, then, may you find fortune in all of your travels," returned Nobu, bowing in turn before turning to Yusuke. "Give your fellow detectives my regards."

Yusuke nodded in affirmation, and then turned to join the rest of the group, who had begun to make their way towards a nearby forest. Sensing an oddly familiar spirit energy from behind him, Yusuke suddenly did an about face. Were he drinking anything, it would surely have been spit out, for descending from the sky above towards Nobu was a blue haired girl riding an oar. The others had failed to notice Yusuke's absence, so he hid behind a rock and watched the situation unfold.

"Hello there, miss ferry girl. Terribly sorry to disappoint, but I have an appointment in five days. You can give me that much longer, right?" called Nobu up to a presumably much younger version of Botan as she approached.

"You must be out of your mind!" snapped Botan angrily. "You disappear completely off of the spiritual radar for thirty years and then expect you're going to be treated nice when your spirit is finally tracked down? Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused me?"

"Oho? I've caused trouble, have I? Sorry to hear that," Nobu replied, not sounding apologetic in the least. "Well, I'm afraid that I'll just have to cause you some more trouble, then. See you in five days."

With that, Nobu promptly left the ground and started soaring off in the opposite direction that Yusuke's comrades had departed in, passing seamlessly through several rocks on the way. Botan's expression jumped from "pissed off" to "about to turn homicidal" on Yusuke's anger scale in response.

"Get back here, you twit!" screamed Botan as she began to give chase. "I am _not_ going through all that paperwork again, do you hear me?"

Yusuke thought it took great self control to suppress his laughter enough so that he avoided detection. Rarely had he seen Botan in such a fury. Filing the incident away for future comedic reference, Yusuke, hastened to catch up with the rest of the group.

"What was the hold up, Yusuke?" asked Inuyasha when he had caught up. "Did you sense a demon or somethin'?"

"Well…I guess you could call it that, yeah."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

To everyone's relief, they had arrived at Kaede's village by nightfall, and were not forced to scavenge for dinner. However, seeing the exhausted state that everyone was in after hiking for countless hours, they decided it would be wise to wait until morning before sending Sango off to the "11th year of the Meiji". At first, when they realized they had no idea how many years were between the current era and the year the photograph of Kuwabara was taken, there had been a slight panic. Fortunately, Sango recalled Nobu saying something about how the actual system one used to calculate years and days was irrelevant, since humans invented the very concept of naming blocks of time anyway. So long as a target was established using any kind of existent measuring system at all, he had said, Masaruten would do the rest of the work.

It even went so far to transport you to the same month, day, hour, minute and second that it was in the time of your departure if the only unit you gave was a year. In other words, if at exactly five in the morning on January 6th, 1990, you decided to transport yourself to the 52nd year of the Qin dynasty of China, you would arrive on January 6th, 52nd year of the Qin dynasty at exactly five in the morning. It was, according to Nobu, a safety measure to prevent accidental violation of his "third rule". The one hitch in this was that if you used a measurement of time that never existed, such as saying you wanted to go to the 15th year of the One-Legged Duck, then you would end up being hurled through space-time for several minutes until it was determined that such a point in time never existed, and you were flung rather roughly back into the time from which you came. Nobu, having experienced this first hand upon misreading the wetern term "A.D." as "A.B.", had cheerily described it as "nauseating to the point of near insanity".

Since there was no doubt that the "11th year of the Meiji" actually existed, however, everyone was able to rest soundly throughout the night. After breakfast the following morning, they gathered around the great tree that Inuyasha had once been pinned to.

"The shrine should be there by now, since I'm pretty sure Tokyo existed in the Meiji era," Kagome ventured. "It will be a good place to start from, and this way you wont end up transporting yourself into a wall or something."

"Yeah, I don't think anyone would take kindly to a time portal ripping a hole in their house," agreed Sango, who was wearing her traveling clothes since her armor would probably stand out too much.

"Um…you sure you want to take Hiraikotsu, Sango?" asked Inuyasha, pointing out that a giant boomerang was probably far more suspicious than some light armor.

"I'm not going into some unknown part of time without my weapon. Besides, it's covered," Sango replied, referring to the huge piece of brown cloth wrapped around the weapon so that it looked like a giant triangle instead of a giant boomerang, which while ridiculous looking, would at least keep her from getting arrested for carrying a weapon. "You never know what kind of trouble those guys might have gotten themselves into."

"Okay, remember, Kuwabara was at a place called the Kamiya Dojo, so ask around for that place to start out," Yusuke reminded her. "He might know where the others are, which would make everything pretty easy."

"Be careful, though, Sango," interjected Miroku, failing to hide the concern in his voice. "You always have the option of coming back to this time if you get lost or are in a tight spot. We'll be waiting for you."

"Don't worry, Miroku," Sango assured the monk. "I'll be fine, and so will Hiei, Kuwabara, and Kurama. I promise."

With that, Sango once again began the process of opening a time portal to the future. With the kanji for "11th year of the Meiji" glowing strongly on Masaruten's blade, she cut through the air, a portal appearing in the wake of the sword's path. As the portal opened, she gave a final wave of goodbye, and among the well wishes of her comrades in the background, she stepped through the portal. As the portal disappeared from existence, however, Kagome let out a startled gasp.

"Oh my god! We never actually showed her the picture, did we? She won't recognize the other people in it at all!" she sputtered, eyes wide as she turned to Yusuke, who hastily pulled out the picture from his pocket. "What are we going to do?"

"It won't matter as long as she finds the dojo, right?" Shippou said, hopping up onto Yusuke's head so that he could talk eye to eye with Kagome. "And if they're staying with Kuwabara, we know they can't be bad guys."

"The runt's right, Kagome. I'm sure she'll be fine," added Inuyasha, putting a hand on her shoulder. "She can take care of herself."

"Yeah, you're probably right…" relented Kagome, sighing as she and the others walked back towards the village.

The only one who lingered was Miroku. For a moment, he stared at where Sango had just been, but was able to tear his eyes away from the spot and follow the others, though his brow remained furrowed. There were a number of outcomes possible from this scenario, and none of them seemed very appealing to him. However, the monk knew that whatever happened form here on out would happen regardless of what he felt about it. The only thing that he could do now was wait for the final result.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Sanosuke Sagara was having a bad day. It was barely noon, and already he had been dogged about some kind of debt at least half a dozen times. Not that he was concerned about the money, far from it. He had been a freeloader ever since the end of the Revolution, and not once had he actually paid for something when he didn't want to. No, the actual debt wasn't a problem, it was simply annoying to be pestered about it all the time. It almost made him consider donning his old nickname, Zanza, and getting a few mercenary jobs just to put an end to the noise.

That was never actually going to happen, though, and he knew it. Being a fighter for hire had been a thrilling occupation, but his conscience wouldn't allow him to do it any more. He looked up at the clouds and sighed. Normally, one wouldn't do this walking through the streets of Tokyo, which usually bustled with people, but this particular district was usually devoid of activity, which was why Sano generally chose to walk here.

_'Damn it, Kenshin, you've made me into a softy. One of these days I'm gonna' kick your ass for it.'_

Lowering his eyes back to street level, he noticed a young woman walking towards him from the other end of the street, causing him to raise an eyebrow. It certainly was not her clothes that caught his eye, they were plain enough, and while she was certainly good looking, that was not his focus, either. Rather, it was the giant…something that she had strapped to her back. She wasn't bending from the weight at all, either. He could not be sure if what she was carrying was actually heavy or not, but it _looked_ impressive at least.

Suddenly, he realized that she was looking at him. He wasn't flustered, exactly, but it was a little awkward, especially if they were walking towards each other like this. He was about to make some wise ass comment about this as they approached, but she spoke first.

"Excuse me," she said, causing both parties to stop in front of each other. "I'm looking for the Kamiya Dojo, could you tell me where that is?"

Now, Sano by nature could be a suspicious person, having suffered a most horrible betrayal in the past that he could never completely let go of. So naturally, had _anyone_ asked about the Kamiya Dojo he would be cautious at the very least. However, this was not anyone. This was a young woman carrying a very large unidentified object on her back, and now that he was up close to her he could confirm that she was indeed strong, showing absolutely no effort in carrying said object. Additionally, he saw the end of a sword hilt sticking out from underneath the huge object. A lot of people knew that Kenshin Himura, formerly the Battousai was staying at the Kamiya Dojo, and a lot of people also wanted him dead. All signs were telling him that this girl, as pretty and innocent looking as she was, was not to be trusted.

"Now, why would you want to go there?" asked Sano, figuring he might try to squeeze some information out of her.

"I'm looking for someone. He's supposed to be staying there," replied the young woman.

"Oh you are, huh?" Sango replied, having confirmed his suspicions to himself. "Well, too bad you ran into me then, 'cause no one gets to enter that dojo unless I say so."

"What do you mean?" asked the other, her eyes narrowing.

"I mean you're not going anywhere, little lady," Sano answered, flashing a confident smirk. "Now we can do this the easy way, or the-"

Sano didn't get a chance to say what the other way was, because at that moment, a rather large chunk of rock that had once been part of a nearby wall slammed into his forehead. The only thing that was damaged, however, was the rock, which fell to the ground in several pieces, leaving but a small scratch on Sano's forehead. Sano couldn't prevent his smirk from growing wider as he saw the girl's jaw drop in shock. After all, he had taken an iron prison weight the size of his head in the same spot without flinching. A rock that small was nothing to him.

"Now that," he said, pausing for a moment as he kicked the rocks remains to the side. "Wasn't very nice."

"Get out of my way," warned the rock thrower. "I don't want to have to hurt you."

"No dice, little lady," Sano responded. "If you want me out of your way, then you're gonna' have to move me."

"Fine, you leave me no choice."

With that, the young woman pulled the brown cloth off of the thing on her back revealing…well…Sano had absolutely no idea what it was she revealed. It was like a triangle, but with one side removed. It was ridiculously large, almost as big as his old partner, the zanbatou, but it looked odd. So odd, in fact, that it was actually kind of funny being threatened with it. Correction, it was _extremely_ funny being threatened with it. As such Sano burst out laughing.

"Are you serious?" he asked mockingly, trying to control his laughter. "I was expecting a sword, or a spear, or something, but what the hell is that? That's the stupidest looking weapon I've ever seen!"

"Oh yeah? Why don't we see just how stupid it is!" yelled the young woman, now practically red with fury.

"Tch," snorted Sano, now having finally controlled his laughter. "I'm too old to play with kids toys."

That did it, the young woman was now absolutely incensed. Doing a quick back-flip to put distance between herself and Sano, she detached the unidentified object from her back and flung it towards Sano. Were he not so preoccupied by the now unidentified _flying_ object, Sano would probably have realized that the weapon would have been flung at him with maybe half the force had he not made the young woman angry enough to disregard his safety.

Bracing himself just in time, Sano put a hand on both sides of the object as the tip of the would-be triangle rammed into him with incredible force. Grunting from the extraordinary effort, Sano pushed back with all his might as the object propelled him backwards, his feet creating shallow trenches in the dirt road beneath him. Finally, after skidding backwards for what felt like an eternity, he came to a halt. His stomach felt like it was now housing a sizable bruise, but the white wraps that he always wore there covered it from sight. So, when he tossed the strange weapon casually to the side, he knew it would look like he had come out of the ordeal completely unscathed, even if he had been pushed back a very sizable distance.

"You can't beat me," he called out as he worked his way back down the now very damaged roadway. "Just give up, I don't wanna' have to hit a lady."

The young woman grimaced as she stared Sano down, shifting into a fighting stance. Sano figured that her lack of a retort was a good sign, she _had_ to be at least a little intimidated by that display. Suddenly, she leapt towards Sano, her long black hair flying behind her as she flew through the air. Surprised, Sano just barely managed to sidestep her initial punch, but a quick spin kick caught him off-guard, connecting with his chin. The blow sent his staggering, and he could feel the blood on his lip.

_'She's no joke,'_ he observed as he blocked a side kick and stepped back to gain some breathing room. _'I was serious when I said I don't want to hit a girl, though. Just great, what the hell am I gonna' do?'_

Without a real way to counter-attack, Sano was being forced backwards doing his best to avoid and block whatever blows he could. Ducking another spin-kick and rolling away from a follow up knee, he finally came up with a plan. He stood up as she came at him again, waiting for the right moment. First came a low sweeping kick that he quickly leapt over, followed by a rising upper cut that he leaned backwards to avoid. Finally, it came: a right hook aimed straight for his jaw. Moving with all the speed he could muster, he grabbed onto the wrist of her incoming hand with his right hand, twisted it around her back and shoved her to the ground.

Still holding onto her wrist, he dug his left knee into the small of her back and quickly grabbed her other wrist in his left hand. Once he had that twisted behind her back, it was over.

"You're strong, but you can't get out of this hold," he announced truthfully as the young woman squirmed on the ground, trying to free herself. "It doesn't matter how strong you are if you have no leverage, so just give up."

"Like hell! There's no way you can keep me like this forever!" spat back his now defeated opponent.

Sano had to admit that she had a bit of a point. He hadn't really thought far enough ahead to know what he would do now, although that was really nothing new. So, as the young woman struggled in vain to free herself, he began weighing his options.

_'Head-butt? No, that could seriously hurt her if I did that to the back of her head. Maybe I could try to grab her pressure points…wait…I don't know where those are. Aw hell, if my right hand weren't hurt, I could have used my Futai no Kiwami on that weapon and turned it into dust. She would have given up for sure. Damn that Shishio, how did his face become stronger than freaking steel?'_

As Sano's thoughts on what to do next deviated to an inward rant that started first on Makoto Shishio, then somehow moved to Hajime Saitou, then to the government, and then back to Saitou, he failed to notice a newcomer swiftly come up behind him. Of course, he quickly noticed the newcomer once this person had whacked him on the head with a wooden sword.

"Sanosuke Sagara! Just what are you doing to that poor woman?" bellowed Kaoru in a very angry tone of voice that Sano had come to associate with her.

"Hey, easy, little missy, it's not what it looks like!" shot back Sano, turning his head slightly to glare at Kaoru.

This was a mistake. For, in turning ever so slightly, his grip on the young woman's left arm slackened. Quickly freeing it from his grasp, the first action she took was to give Sano a hard elbow to the chin.

"Damn it!" Sano growled, quickly regaining control of the rogue arm. "You see what I mean? This is _not_ some poor innocent woman!"

"I was defending myself!" interjected the captive, though any further protests wer silenced when Sano dug his knee further into her back.

"You threw a rock at me!"

"Only because you were trying to detain me!"

"Well that was a good call, wasn't it? You were carrying a giant…thing…and this sword!"

Surely, if allowed to continue, this argument would have endured until one of the parties participating died of thirst or starvation. Fortunately, at that moment when the argument was about to reach the point where very little intervention short of a tornado could interrupt it, one more person arrived on the scene.

"Hey Kaoru, we've been…" began Kuwabara before he trailed off as he took in the scene before him. "Sango? Is that you?"

"You know this crazy chick, Kuwabara?" Sano asked, somewhat shocked.

"Thank heaven," sighed Sango with relief. "Kuwabara, get this idiot off of me."

"Who's an idiot?"

"You!"

"Now you've done it. I'm not moving until you apologize."

"What? Oh give me a break!"

As the argument evolved…or rather, devolved, Kaoru let out an exasperated sigh. She scanned the street, and quickly noticed to damage done by Sano's battle with Sango's immense weapon, still lying in the street. Again, she sighed. Really, it was impossible for her not to.

"From now on," she muttered quietly. "I'm not letting anyone stay in my house without a background check."


	32. Chapter Thirty One: Parting Gifts

**To the readers/reviewers:** Hello all! It's been a while, I know. I'm really sorry about the wait, guys. I do, however, plan on getting on the next chapter right away, so the next update should hopefully take no more than a week or so. Anyways, if you're still reading, please enjoy the new chapter!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Thirty-one: Parting Gifts**

It had been quite some time since Sango had met someone who made her as mad as the man called Sanosuke. Even after he had been finally convinced to let her up off the ground and it became clear that the whole fight was the result of some yet unexplained misunderstanding, she had not begun to view him in a better light. Even now, as she was being led back to the Kamiya Dojo, she could not help but try to burn a hole through the kanji for "bad" that adorned the back of his shirt, which she felt fit him just perfectly. She of course, meant this in the least flattering way possible. Apparently, her animosity towards the tall fighter was highly visible, for Kuwabara had refrained from saying much other than a warm greeting. As much as the boy likely wanted to say, it was just as likely that he didn't want a boomerang to collide with the back of his head, either.

Fortunately for his skull, he wouldn't have to hold in his questions for much longer, as the group had finally reached the Kamiya Dojo. The young woman named Kaoru, who had been at the head of the group, opened up the gate and gestured for everyone to enter.

"Here we are," she said in a desperate attempt at cheeriness. "You look like you've been traveling for a while, Sango, would you like something to eat or drink?"

"I'm fine, thanks," replied Sango irritably as she followed Sanosuke into the dojo.

As Kuwabara and Kaoru entered behind her, Sango surveyed the dojo. It was certainly big enough, that was for sure. In her time, not many people were able to own a complex like this, with walled in, well kept grounds. As for the architecture, it differed only slightly from her time's architecture in style, although it was also of impressive size to the demon slayer. As she finished up her observations, a man with long red hair and a very noticeable cross-shaped scar on his left cheek exited the building with a genuinely warm smile on his face.

"You're all back early, that you are," greeted the man before noticing Sanosuke's condition as the fighter trudged past him. "You're bleeding, Sano. Did something happen?"

"Ask her," answered Sanosuke, jabbing his thumb back over his shoulder in Sango's direction. "Be careful what you say to her though, or she'll throw a rock at your head."

Sango bit back a retort to the verbal jab as Sanosuke continued into the building. Apparently, he had no intention of getting into another circular argument, and she certainly shared the sentiment.

"Kenshin, this is Sango," cut in Kaoru quickly, eager to preempt another verbal duel. "She's one of Kuwabara's friends."

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Sango," greeted the swordsman, bowing politely. "How do you know Kuwabara?"

"Well…" began Sango hesitantly, trying to think of an answer.

"She's one of my teammates from that special team I told you guys about, remember?" interrupted Kuwabara much to her relief. "We actually kind of have to talk right now, so we're gonna' head out back, 'kay?"

Smiling goofily, Kuwabara quickly directed Sango towards the back of the dojo in a manner that he certainly thought looked very inconspicuous. Of course, Kuwabara was neither a spy, nor an actor, so the result was actually quite the opposite, leaving Kenshin and Kaoru watching with amusement and exasperation respectively as he essentially pushed Sango around the corner of the main building. Once Kuwabara though they were out of earshot, he put a hand on Sango's shoulder, signaling her to stop.

"They don't know about demons or that stuff, so just let me do the talkin' about how we know each other and stuff," explained Kuwabara. "Anyways, how'd you know where to find me? Did Kurama find you or something?"

"Kurama's here, too? Great, that makes this much easier," Sango said as she let out a relieved sigh. "Where is he?"

"You mean he didn't find you? That's weird, he said he had some ninja friends looking for anyone that Naraku sent here, so he should have found you a long time ago. I mean, they're _ninjas_!" Kuwabara replied, scratching his head with puzzlement. "Huh…I guess ninjas aren't as awesome as they look like on TV."

"Actually, Kuwabara, Naraku wasn't the one who sent me back here, I was," corrected Sango with a grin, tapping the hilt of Masaruten with her index finger. "Using this sword."

Kuwabara's eyes widened, and for the first time in a long time, he was at a total loss for words. Not that he wasn't trying to fix that, of course, opening and closing his jaw periodically as he tried to think of the appropriate words for the situation. Sango let this continue for a moment before finally speaking for him.

"You, Kurama, and Hiei were the only three that Naraku was able to get with his attack," she explained with a smile. "As soon as we find the others, I'm taking all of you guys back home."

It was immediately following this statement that Sango finally came to understand the term "bear hug".

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Other than temporarily turning her face blue from the lack of oxygen, Kuwabara's ecstatic reaction to the news she had brought also managed to put Sango in a better mood. As such, she had decided to accept Kaoru's earlier offer for food, as she was actually quite hungry. Kuwabara had joined her, though he did not exactly eat much seeing as he was far too preoccupied in telling Sango everything that had happened to him during his stay at the Kamiya dojo, and when he had finished with that, he began telling her about the people he was staying with. However, he had carefully avoided talking about Sanosuke too much, not wanting to ruin Sango's good mood.

According to Kuwabara, Kurama was staying in a city called Kyoto and could be easily contacted by letter, and while Hiei's exact location was unknown, he had assured her that finding him would be just as easy. Glad that she had time to relax, she gladly accepted her hosts' offer of a bath, which they had been kind enough to heat up for her. Refreshed and feeling much more serene, she donned her freshly washed clothes that had been laid in front of the bath house and tried to think of a good way to occupy her time.

_'I suppose I'll go watch Kuwabara and Yahiko's training session,'_ she decided as she walked towards the dojo's main building. _'There's really nothing I can do but wait for Kurama to arrive and Kenshin's sources to find out where Hiei is. They said he had joined some kind of army called "the police". I hope he isn't in any kind of danger…heaven knows it would be all my fault if something were to happen to him…"_

She shook her head as if to try and get rid of the thought as though it were a flea. No matter her efforts, however, the thoughts remained. Images of Hiei lying dead on some kind of battlefield flashed in her mind coupled with waves of guilt. The good mood she had been in was nowhere in sight, leaving only shame and apprehension in its stead.

"Miss Sango?" she heard Kenshin say, and suddenly came back into reality to see the swordsman walking towards her from the dojo's main gate. "I have sent Kuwabara's letter to his friend in Kyoto. He should be here in a few days, that he should."

"Thanks. I really appreciate the help you have been," she replied, trying to sound cheerful.

"I am happy to help, that I am," assured Kenshin. "If I may ask, Miss Sango, do you happen to have a free moment right now?"

Sango was almost baffled by the man's politeness. Even the casual observer would be able to tell that she had nothing urgent to attend to, much less Kenshin who knew that she would be simply waiting around the dojo for the next few days. Despite this, the man was still polite enough to actually ask permission to hold a conversation with her. She didn't know how it was possible, but she had found someone even more polite than Kurama.

"Yes, I do," she answered, sitting down on the edge of the dojo's walkway. "Do you have something to tell me?"

"I heard about your fight with Sano from Kaoru," Kenshin explained as he sat down beside her. "I didn't want you to get the wrong impression of him."

"What wrong impression? That he's a boorish moron who picks fights with random strangers?" deadpanned Sango in response.

"Yes, that wrong impression," Kenshin confirmed with an amused smile. "You have to understand, Sano is not a very trusting person by nature. It's not really his fault. Back when he was a boy, his closest comrades were killed in an act of betrayal. He himself was lucky to survive after witnessing it firsthand, from what I understand. The event very much affected him, that it did"

"That's terrible…" said Sango in response, suddenly recalling Naraku's betrayal of her village. "As much as I sympathize, though, you can't use that as an excuse for all of his behavior."

"No, that you can't," agreed Kenshin, and motioned towards the dojo wall with his hand. "However, I have more to explain. If you would direct your attention over to that part of the wall, Miss Sango…"

Sango followed his hand to find that a very large chunk of the dojo's wall was in a very shabby state of repair, with a multitude of wooden boards trying to cover a massive hole. She looked at it for a moment with a furrowed brow, trying to figure out what Kenshin was trying to say. Suddenly, she understood.

"That damage came from an attack on the dojo not too long ago," continued Kenshin. "Sano himself was actually the one to fight that particular attacker and protect everyone. However, it was not the first time the people living here had been put in such danger, and it was not the last. So you see, Miss Sango, when Sano encountered a complete stranger looking for the Kamiya Dojo who was carrying a sword and a very large unidentified object, it was only natural to him that he had to try and protect his friends, that it was."

Sango sighed and shook her head. Kenshin was right, it made perfect sense for Sano to react the way he had. Not that it was any fault of her own, either. She had no idea why Sano would try to detain her. For all she knew, Kuwabara could have been in danger. Really, the whole situation was just incredibly bad luck.

"I suppose you're right," she admitted wearily. "I should go apologize to him."

"I doubt that would be necessary, I'm sure he will get over it," assured Kenshin with a kind smile. "Besides, it has always been my philosophy that one should work on repenting for past deeds through action rather than simply apologizing and dwelling on them, that it has."

Sango quickly stopped standing up and turned her focus on the red haired swordsman. The man had been surprising her ever since Kuwabara had spoke of his martial prowess, which, given his small, wiry frame, seemed awfully improbable. A master swordsman, a perfect gentlemen, and now a philosopher? It seemed almost beyond comprehension.

_'No matter how improbable this man is, he still has a point, even more so than he may realize,'_ Sango discerned, her thoughts broadening beyond her confrontation with Sano to another, much more dire, event she felt responsible for. _'I can't just keep blaming myself for what happened to Hiei, the only thing that matters is how I make up for it. And I **will** make up for it, I swear it.'_

"Oro? Miss Sango?" spoke Kenshin, once again bringing her back from her thoughts. "Is there something on your mind?"

"It's nothing," Sango answered dismissively, then rose to her feet. "Are Kuwabara and Yahiko still training with Kaoru? I thought I'd go watch them for a while."

"Unfortunately, I believe Miss Kaoru told me something about needing the training to be private today," replied Kenshin, also standing. "I'm rather busy myself, so I'm afraid you're on your own for a while."

"That's fine. I think I'll go for a walk, I've never been here before, so it might be nice to have a look around," answered the demon slayer.

After parting ways with Kenshin, Sango made her way out of the dojo, picked a direction, and began to walk down the streets of Tokyo. It isn't every day that one gets to see the future, so she figured that she might as well try to take in all that she could. Besides, it would give her time to think more about Kenshin's philosophy of repentance through action, and how exactly she planned on repenting for what happened on that fateful night at the temple.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Kaoru watched closely as her two students squared off. The dojo was dead silent as they circled each other, both boys concentrating as hard as they could. Like many of the recent sparring matches between the two, Kaoru had limited Kuwabara to defense only; he was not allowed to attack at all. His technique had progressed with ridiculous speed, and by now he had an advantage over Yahiko in that respect in addition to simply being physically superior. The only way she could make sparing with Yahiko a real challenge for him was by taking away his ability to fight back. After all, defense had always been his biggest weakness.

Suddenly, Yahiko charged forward, thrusting his wooden sword towards Kuwabara's heart. The larger boy parried with his own sword while simultaneously backing up to prevent Yahiko from getting in too close. Not to be deterred so easily, Yahiko followed up with a horizontal slash and immediately moved into an upwards swing, only to have both attacked nullified by Kuwabara's defenses. Frustrated, Yahiko let out a battle cry and bull rushed his opponent, letting lose a flurry of thrusts and cuts as he did so. While Kuwabara was now forced to backpedal a great deal and was clearly showing struggle, he was still managing defend every attack successfully.

Frustrated, Yahiko decided to try something he had been saving for Kuwabara for a while now. Taking a step backwards, he suddenly leapt upwards with his sword in high above his head. Kaoru groaned and had to resist the urge to cover her eyes when she recognized what he was doing.

"Hiten Misturugi Style: Ryutsuisen!" Yahiko yelled as he reached the apex of his leap, doing his to imitate Kenshin's move.

Yahiko couldn't understand why Kuwabara had shifted out of his fighting stance and was now just staring upwards at him. That is, he couldn't figure it out until he tried to swing his sword downward, at which point it collided with a rafter and was sent flying out of his grasp. Additionally, this also made him lose whatever semblance of balance he had in the first place, and he could do nothing but yell out a poignant "Oh crap!" before landing face first onto the dojo floor.

"Hey, Kaoru, what am I supposed to do if he attacks himself?" Kuwabara asked mockingly before a thoroughly pissed off Yahiko leapt onto his back and attempted to hit his head like a drum. "Gah! Get off of me you little monkey!"

"Yahiko!" bellowed Kaoru, instantly getting both boys to freeze. "Get off of him and go practice outside for a while."

"Aw, come on Kaoru, I was ju-" the boy started to protest.

"This isn't about you're behavior. Kuwabara and I need to be alone for a while," Kaoru interrupted with a serious look that silenced the boy to a grumble.

Slowly, Yahiko picked up his wooden training sword and trudged out of the room, closing the door harshly behind him. Kuwabara watched the boy leave, and then turned back to his instructor. Not since the beginning of his training had Kaoru wanted to be with him in private. He couldn't help but regard her with a slightly puzzled expression.

"What's this about? Am I in trouble or something'?" he asked.

"No, nothing like that," assured Kaoru, though she was still regarding him seriously. "This friend of yours…you're going to be leaving with her, aren't you?"

"I…I was gonna' tell you after we were done training…" Kuwabara answered quietly after a moment of silence, shuffling his feet uncomfortably. "Yeah…I'm gonna' be going home after Kurama gets here. Sorry…I mean…"

"It's fine, I understand. I know you've missed your home and your friends very much, I don't take any offense," Kaoru said smiling kindly before her expression once again turned serious. "It's just if you're leaving, then I have one last thing to teach you before you go. I'm pretty sure that you're not ready for it, but if this is the last chance you have to learn it, then I feel obligated to teach you. The other parts of the Kamiya Kasshin Style you will be able to grasp on your own with enough time, but only I can teach this last thing. Are you ready for it?"

"You bet! I'm ready for anything!" declared Kuwabara enthusiastically, his departure temporarily forgotten.

"Right then," began Kaoru, grabbing her sword and shifting into her fighting stance. "Now, I want you to come at me with a vertical cut, and don't hold anything back."

Kuwabara nodded and he too shifted into a fighting stance. Kaoru took a deep breath as she prepared for his attack. While she had mastered the technique she was about to perform, she had always tried to avoid using it, for it carried incredible risk along with its power. She knew Kuwabara's strength and speed very well, however, so there was little actual risk of her failing to succeed. Even so, she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of nervousness as Kuwabara charged her with his sword raised.

With a loud battle cry, Kuwabara brought his weapon down towards his instructor with all of his might. However, before it could make contact, Kaoru swiftly crossed her hands over her head, and caught Kuwabara's incoming sword with the back of her hands, allowing her to maintain a grip on her own weapon. Still gaping at this, Kuwabara experienced even more shock when Kaoru suddenly twisted her wrists with considerable force, throwing the sword from his hands. Before he could react at all, Kaoru had already finished the maneuver with a final swing of her sword, stopping it mere centimeters from the stunned boy's throat.

"The first part where I caught your sword is called Hadome," stated Kaoru, seeing as Kuwabara was still too stunned to speak. "The second part where I disarmed you and executed the finishing cut is called Hawatari. These two maneuvers are the Kamiya Kasshin Style's succession techniques."

"Succession…techniques?" managed Kuwabara as Kaoru removed her weapon from his throat.

"The ultimate move in every style is called a succession technique," Kaoru explained. "Those two moves are each one part of the Kamiya Kasshin Style's ultimate technique. In the days that we have before your friend arrives here, I'm going to try and teach you as much of that technique as I can. You won't be able to master it completely, but by then it will just be a matter of practice."

Kuwabara was still staring at her, totally dumbfounded by what had just happened. Kaoru smiled amusedly in response. She expected surprise, but she never expected this kind of shock out of Kuwabara. She had never seen him so stunned.

"Hey, snap out of it. How are you going to learn this if you sit there acting stunned all day, Kazuma?" Kaoru teased before realizing her mistake and rubbing the back of her head in slight embarrassment. "Oops, sorry about that, I know you like being called Kuwabara instead."

"What're you talking about? I told you, my big sister can call me Kazuma," answered Kuwabara, now snapped out of his stance. "And, well, it's felt like I've been here for so long, that you've fit that position pretty good, ya' know?"

Kaoru smiled as she regarded the boy before her. He actually had not been around for as long as it had seemed, but he had somehow managed to fit right in with everyone, as though he had been at the Kamiya Dojo all along. It was fairly remarkable, when she thought about it. Then again, it had not taken very long for Sanosuke, Yahiko, or even Kenshin to become a big part of her life, either. Sometimes, she did wonder just how it was that fate had brought such a friendly group of people together so suddenly.

"All right then, Kazuma," she replied, still smiling. "Let's get started on the first step of Hadome…"

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Kurama wiped the sweat from his brow as he completed his exercises. The Aoiya was practically empty on this particular day, and since this created so much down time, he figured he may as well try to stay sharp with his fighting technique. It wasn't as good as a sparring match with Aoshi, who was currently meditating at the temple and did not likely wish to be disturbed, but it was sufficient. Of course, it also spared him the pain that would likely come with such a sparring match as well. They eventually had followed through on that weapons match, and the ex-ninja had turned out to be unbelievably skilled with his dual kodachi techniques. While Kurama managed to hold his own for a time, he was still carrying some of the bruises.

"Not bad there, Shuichi," he heard Okon say, and turned to find the woman with her long hair let down and wearing her ninja garb. "Mind if I join you?"

"Sure…I suppose not…" Kurama replied, though suddenly feeling very apprehensive. "Has the restaurant closed for the day?"

"Yes, business was so slow that it really didn't seem worth it to keep it open," she answered, smiling a little too warmly for Kurama's liking. "Now then, here are the rules for our sparing match…."

"Sparing match?" questioned Kurama, his apprehension ever increasing. "I don't believe I said-"

"If I get a hit in on you…" continued Okon, paying absolutely no heed to Kurama's protests. "Then you have to take me out to dinner tonight."

Suddenly, a door burst open from the other side of the courtyard, and Kurama turned to see a breathless Omasu charging into the courtyard, also wearing her ninja uniform. Apprehension gave way to total panic, and at this point, Kurama was seriously debating fleeing in terror.

"That's not fair, Okon!" accused Omasu angrily. "You're cheating!"

"What are you talking about? Look at you, you were about to do the same thing," retorted Okon, causing Omasu to flush slightly with embarrassment.

"I…well…oh, forget it," Omasu finally stammered out. "How about this: the first one to get a hit on him gets him, okay?"

"Fine," agreed Okon, and the two women both turned towards Kurama.

"Now, ladies, I never actually agreed…" Kurama started to protest, but was forced to cut his sentence short when both women leapt towards him with intent to strike.

Eyes wide and nervous sweat rolling down his face, Kurama hastily moved to avoid the kicks that were sent his way. His usual grace faltered slightly in response to his frantic thoughts on how to escape his current predicament, but he still managed to avoid the attacks with relative ease. This, unfortunately for him, was only the beginning, and he was forced to flit to and fro around the courtyard to avoid the barrage of punches and kicks that were sent his way. All the while, there was nothing but an expression of the utmost panic written across his face.

A ray of hope shone through when he spotted Misao across the courtyard. He was about to cry out for help when he realized that Okon and Omasu had managed to flank him, forcing all of his attention to be focused on avoiding their simultaneous attacks from the left and the right. Even without his yelling, Misao noticed what was going on. The real problem was that she didn't seem very sympathetic.

"Honestly, what's so great about him?" she queried once Kurama manage to escape the pincer attack, causing a short break in the Shuichi hunt. "I mean sure, he's pretty good looking, but he's not even close to Lord Aoshi."

"Misao, you don't think _anyone_ comes close to Lord Aoshi," countered Okon flatly.

"That's because no one _does_! Lord Aoshi is the greatest!" returned Misao.

Seeing his opportunity as Omasu joined the debate, Kurama practically sprinted through the nearest door, and stopped only once he had made his way out the Aoiya's front door. It wasn't that he didn't like Okon or Omasu, far from it. He simply saw them as friendly acquaintances; there were no real romantic feelings. He actually presumed that the attraction did not go beyond a shallow infatuation on their part, anyway.

_'Misao said something before about them acting like this about someone else, too…what was his name?'_ Kurama mused as he leaned against the Aoiya's wall for support. _'Ah yes, Seijurou Hiko. I ought to find him, if only to distract them for a little while…honestly, my life would be so much easier if I were immature…'_

"Oh, there you are, Shuichi," interrupted Shiro's voice, and Kurama turned to see the spiky haired ninja walking towards him with a letter in his hand. "This just arrived from Tokyo."

Taking the letter, Kurama offered a polite thank you before turning his attention to the letter, realizing there was only one person who could possibly send him a letter. After opening it, he quickly recognized the handwriting as Kuwabara's, confirming his suspicions. Recognizing that it would have to be something important for Kuwabara to contact him, he read as quickly as Kuwabara's handwriting would allow. Blinking in astonishment after reaching the end, he began to read it a second time, as though to be sure of its contents. As he neared the end of the letter for the second time, however, he was interrupted by the Aoiya's front door opening behind him.

"Got you!" cried Okon and Omasu simultaneously as they leapt towards their prey, and Kurama was instantly sent flying forward as the two women's kicks connected with his back at precisely the same time.

Despite being kicked through the air and landing face first in the dirt, not to mention losing the "bet" that he had been forced into, Kurama was smiling as he stood up. After reading the contents of that letter, nothing could possibly deter the joy he felt.

"I'm sorry, ladies," he said, flashing a wide smile and holding aloft the letter. "I'm afraid that I won't be around long enough to follow through on our bet."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Kurama was the kind of person who could handle goodbyes fairly well, even ones that would be forever. So, when he had said farewell most of the Oniwaban Group back at the Aoiya, he had managed to make it a fairly lighthearted affair. The only one he hadn't said his farewell to back there had been Misao, for she had decided to accompany him to the train station to see him off. Thus, this last goodbye was much harder than the other ones, not only because he had been much closer to Misao than the other Oniwaban Group members, but Kurama also had a hypothesis that there was something about train stations that made people more emotional.

"So, you really aren't ever coming back, are you?" Misao asked, unable to hide her disappointment.

"No, I'm afraid not," Kurama answered back, smiling kindly. "As much as I enjoyed staying with you and everyone else at the Aoiya, I simply belong somewhere else. Unfortunately, going there means that I can never return to this place."

"You wouldn't be saying that if there was anything you could do about it, would you?" surmised Misao, letting out a small sigh. "Well, I guess all I can do is wish you luck then."

"And I return the sentiments, along with something extra," replied Kurama, taking a decently sized pouch out of his pocket and tossing it towards Misao. "A small token of my thanks for your kindness and hospitality."

Misao deftly caught the pouch out of the air and examined it. She raised an eyebrow, perplexed as she turned it over in her hands.

"Tea herbs?" she questioned, throwing Kurama a confused look.

"A very specific kind of tea herbs," Kurama corrected her, his smile broadening. "According to Aoshi, that particular type is his favorite."

Misao's confused expression quickly turned into a wide grin, and she embraced Kurama in a thankful hug. At last, the train whistled its final warning, and the last of its passengers began to board. Kurama too climbed on and took a seat by an open window facing the platform, waving out towards Misao as the train began to move.

"Don't you even think about forgetting about us, Shuichi!" called Misao as she ran to keep pace with the train.

"I wouldn't dream of it!" he returned, waving back at Misao as she ran out of platform to run on.

After a few moments, Misao was a speck in the distance, and Kurama finally pulled his head back into the train. Smiling to himself, he thought about Misao's final farewell to him. She really had nothing to worry about. This entire experience was one that he wouldn't soon forget.


	33. Chapter Thirty Two: The Rescue

**To the readers/reviewers:** I am a dirty, dirty liar. It's been a bit longer than a week, hasn't it? I've really hung you guys out to dry, and I really apologize. I owe you folks more than that. I encountered a new obstacle this time: unexpected _good_ things that consume my time. Fortunately, I squeezed some writing in here and there, found my writing mojo again (thanks to Guyute24), and finally finished the chapter. We're really on the home stretch here, folks. I've only got two more chapters and the epilogue planned, maybe even less if I decide to combine the last two into one grand finale mega chapter. This story will be concluded, and it's a conclusion that I'm really excited to show you guys. Of course, it's not just the destination that matters, but the journey, so in that light, enjoy this next (long delayed) chapter.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Thirty-Two: The Rescue**

Were Kurama in Tokyo for any other reason, he would surely have spent hours exploring the city, learning as much as he possibly could about Meiji era culture. As it was, however, he was here with a most important purpose, and it would take far more than curiosity to divert him from his present course. Moving at a pace somewhere between a walk and a jog, he eventually managed to weave his way through the crowds until he was finally within sight of the Kamiya Dojo's gate. Now more at ease, he slowed down to a calm walk as he approached. Additionally, this also allowed him to notice a woman approaching from the opposite direction. Realizing that they were both heading for the same place, the situation suddenly became quite awkward.

"Can I help you with something?" asked the women icily, adding to the rather regal impression given off by her features.

"I'm a friend of Kazuma Kuwabara's, he's currently training at this dojo. Perhaps you have met him?" replied Kurama, never willing to let his etiquette falter.

"A friend of Kuwabara's...ah, you must be Shuichi, then," said the woman, the ice leaving her voice. "I'm Megumi Takani; I'm a friend of Kenshin and the others, so they told me about you. I apologize for my rudeness."

"No need, you were just being careful," Kurama assured her.

The awkwardness now gone, Kurama opened the dojo's door and politely held it open as Megumi stepped through. No one could be seen, but Kurama noticed noises coming from the direction of the main building. Megumi seemed to notice as well, and both began to walk in the direction of the sounds. As they got closer, the sounds turned into voices.

"...this guy dangerous?"

"I don't think so, that I don't. At least, not anymore."

"I dunno, if this pal of yours picks a fight with him, who knows what he'll do? This is dangerous…"

"What's dangerous?" demanded Megumi as she entered the dining room, turning all eyes towards her and Kurama. "I thought you were done with danger for a while, rooster head."

It was exactly the same group that had been at the dojo before, plus Sango. Of course, her presence was the reason he was here in the first place, so he wasn't really surprised by this. What the man whom Kurama remembered as "Sanosuke" uttered next, however, was a different matter entirely.

"Well, well, if it isn't the fox."

Kurama abruptly snapped his head in the direction of the tall man, unable to keep his eyes from going wide with shock. Fortunately, before his incredible panic became too overwhelmingly obvious, Megumi responded to Sanosuke's greeting.

"You missed your appointment today, idiot," she scolded coldly, walking over to the man and smacking him on the back of the head. "That hand will be as good as useless if you don't treat it properly."

Kurama almost melted from the relief that washed over him. When he though about it, the nickname "fox" rather did suit Megumi's features. Fortunately, it didn't look like anyone had noticed his reaction, so he hadn't given anything away. Nodding a greeting to Sango and Kuwabara, he sat down between the two as Sanosuke feebly attempted to defend himself from Megumi's verbal assault.

"Come on now, Megumi, this time I have a real excuse. Don't tell me you've totally missed that someone new is here?" Sanosuke said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "This is one of Kuwabara's friends. He's going to be going back home with her."

"Oh…" responded Megumi as she regarded Sango from across the room. However, she refused to let this information distract her, and hastily returned into lecture mode. "In that case, why are you talking about something dangerous?"

"Another one of Kuwabara's friends is a member of the police force, Miss Megumi," interjected Kenshin. "They need to find him before they leave for their home, but according to my connections in the police department, he has worked himself into a very dangerous situation, that he has."

"Just what kind of danger is he in?" Kurama asked hurriedly.

There was a long pause as Kenshin regarded the serious look on Kurama's face. Kurama could tell that the swordsman was reading his emotions, and normally, this wouldn't bother him, as it is a common practice among experienced warriors. However, there was something much different about this look. He didn't know how, but Kurama sensed that this man had just managed to take an encyclopedia's worth of information out of that one moment.

_'This Kenshin fellow beat Hiei, so I knew he was strong…but this…' _thought the fox demon. _'This is something else entirely. It's as if he's looking right through me.'_

"Hiei's apparently tracking some outlaw named Soujirou Seta," Sango spoke up, interrupting Kurama's musings. "According to Kenshin, this Soujirou is strong enough that Hiei doesn't stand a chance…as he is now."

"Kenshin said Soujirou won't kill anymore, though," added Yahiko. "So what are we worried about?"

"No, he said that Soujirou was finding his own path. He was going to decide for his own if he would kill or not, right Kenshin?" Kaoru amended

Kenshin nodded slowly, and the room fell silent. Kurama furrowed his brow and tried to think. Scanning the room almost subconsciously, he noticed a map lying on the floor. He leaned in subtly to take a closer look, and noticed a red pin marking a location on the map: the city of Yokohana.

"Is that where Hiei is?" he asked, motioning towards the map.

"Yeah, we got lucky. Thought he'd be further away, but he's pretty close," confirmed Kuwabara. "You ever been to Yokohana, Kurama?"

"No…but it's not like we have a choice on where to go," Kurama answered. "If we wait too long, we may miss him."

Again, there was a pause. If they got lost in Yokohana, there would be no chance of finding Hiei, and it would be just as useless as taking too long to get there. It was a no win situation, or at least that's how Kurama surmised it. Sanosuke, however, seemed to have a different opinion, sighing impatiently.

"Well, no choice. Guess I'm gonna' be your guide," the man said, standing up and stretching out his arms.

"Idiot! You're in no condition to go on any kind of adventure!" snapped Megumi standing up to glare Sanosuke straight in the eye. "You said yourself that this Soujiriou is dangerous, and you can't use your right hand fully, yet."

"Soujirou knows me, I'll probably be able to convince him to back down, anyways…probably," Sanosuke rebutted with a shrug and a roguish smile, and made for the door. "Besides, I know a guy at the docks who owes me a favor, so we can get there without spending a coin. I'll go set that up while you guys get your things in order. See ya' in a bit."

"Idiot…" Megumi muttered quietly, and then, at a whisper Kurama could just barely make out, "You'd better not get yourself killed."

The plan now set, everyone began their preparations. The final stage in their long journey was about to begin.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Kuwabara's final goodbyes to the residents of the Kamiya Dojo had been simple ones. There were no tears or outbursts of emotion, just a hug, a handshake and a noogie to Kaoru, Kenshin, and Yahiko, respectively. Kuwabara, being the man's man that he was, liked it much better that way. He wasn't about to have his life become a cheesy soap opera or sappy romance film, especially with Sano poised to give him crap for it later. So it had been with much repartee that he, Kurama, Sango and Sano had departed made their way towards Tokyo's shipyards.

They arrived to find nothing unexpected. Ships ranging from massive freighters to downright tiny fishing boats lined the docks, and a multitude of workers scuttled about trying to load the seemingly endless sea of crates onto their respective vessels. As the group left the main hub and the crowds thinned, Sano led them to a smaller ship, and as they approached, a dockworker waved in their direction. Sano waved back in greeting. Evidently, they had found their transportation to Yokohama.

"Is my package where I left it?" called out Sanosuke as they drew near.

"Are you kidding? No one could move that even if they wanted to!" joked the dockworker, motioning toward a small stack of crates.

With nothing of their own to do, Sango, Kurama and Kuwabara followed Sano over to the stack of crates, and immediately noticed the massive rectangular container that was resting on top of the stack. Kuwabara quickly surmised that this was Sano's, as none of the other crates looked as heavy as the dock worker had implied Sano's was.

"What's in there, Sano?" Kuwabara asked curiously, examining the case more closely.

"Something that the authorities shouldn't be seeing, if ya' catch my drift," answered Sano with a wide smirk. "Wanna' see?"

Barely even waiting for his traveling companions to nod an affirmative, Sanosuke looked around quickly to make sure there were no prying eyes, and then hastily undid the latches on the obviously custom made case. In retrospect, Kuwabara would realize he should have known what was inside the case, but at the moment it was opened, he was far too stunned to do much of anything but gape. Inside the box was the single largest sword that any of them had ever seen, demonic weapons included; it was Sanosuke's zanbatou, freshly repaired and fastened together with a large metal staple spanning the section where it had been cut in two by Kenshin.

"I just got it repaired. I was gonna' store it at the dojo in case of an emergency," explained Sano, unable to hide the gleam in his eye. "I figured we might need it just in case Soujirou needs some convincing, though, since I can't use my Futae no Kiwami."

After he had taken in the expressions on his traveling companions' faces for another couple moments, Sano closed the case and hefted it over his shoulder. Still slightly dumbfounded, the others followed him wordlessly onto the ship. Having experienced Sano's strength first-hand, Kuwabara recovered from his surprise first. He immediately noticed that Sango hadn't, however; she was still staring bewildered at the case even as Sano set it down on the ship's deck. Sano, apparently noticed this too.

"Don't be jealous, now, little lady," he teased, grinning devilishly. "Size isn't everything."

"A real comedian," muttered Sango, tearing her eyes away from the weapon's case before striking back. "I bet that Megumi woman tells you that all the time."

"What the...! You don't have any idea what you're talking about!"

"You're sure making it sound like I do!"

Kuwabara sighed. After training to learn the Kamiya Kasshin succession techniques for so many hours on end, he had been looking forward to a little sleep on the boat ride. It was apparent now that he wasn't going to get it.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Aside from the raw power that came from his spirit energy, the thing Hiei missed the most was his Jagan. Rather, that was the thing he missed the most as of late, anyway, as tracking down Soujirou Seta had proven to be a very difficult task. At first, he'd been wandering around questioning people almost aimlessly, with no idea whatsoever of where to start. Eventually though, he began to learn through trial and error. For example, inns seemed to be one of the better places to get information, since people from all over were always stopping through. Conversely, fancy restaurants were a bad place to look, as the people there were almost all local.

In this fashion, he slowly but surely began to improve, until at last he had found Soujirou's trail. From that point on, it had just been a matter of not losing it as he hastily moved to catch up with the boy. He had tracked the boy's path across the countryside until it had finally led him to here: Yokohama. Unfortunately, this hadn't ended his search. Yokohama was by no means a small city, and all the foreigner traffic at the shipyards only added to the confusion. Even the local police had been no help, which had put him in a foul mood when he had stopped by their headquarters to send brief report on his status back to Tokyo.

At this moment, however, his mood was comparable to elation, for fortune had struck him at last. He had caught sight of Soujirou heading northwest out of the city but an hour ago, and had since been following him at a distance that was so great it seemed almost paranoid. He remembered how Soujirou had easily detected him the last time, however, and he didn't want to risk being spotted until a suitable location had been reached; one where no one could interfere. It seemed that fortune was on his side for the second time this day, for Soujirou's path had led into the middle of a forest that was devoid of anything aside from the occasional forest animal. It seemed that the moment of truth had finally had arrived.

_'We're far enough away from the city, there's no one nearby,'_ noted Hiei as he took a final analysis of his surroundings. _'It's time to finish this.'_

Like a lion that had just spotted a straggling gazelle, Hiei suddenly burst into a run as he closed the gap between himself and Soujirou. Even as Hiei began his charge, however, Soujirou slowly turned around to face him, his face adorned with a wide smile.

"I was wondering just how much further I would have to walk to get you to come out, mister spikey-haired policeman."

Hiei halted his charge a safe distance away, an alarmed expression on his face. He was positive that he had barely made a sound, and Soujirou had not once looked in his direction. That he had been detected was baffling.

"Okay, let's try to do this right this time. I am Soujirou Seta," continued Soujirou, and then bowed politely before unsheathing his sword. "Your turn."

"Hn, ridiculous," Hiei scoffed, but now felt compelled to follow the protocol out of pure respect. "I am Hiei…Takahashi."

The name, however, had been as far as Hiei was willing to go, and he unsheathed his katana without a bow. Shifting into a fighting stance, Hiei regarded his opponent as he did the same. There was no opening in Soujirou's stance, or at least none that Hiei could attack. Cursing inwardly, Hiei resolved to create one himself.

With a furious cry, Hiei charged, and the duel began. The ringing sound of steel on steel rang rhythmically throughout the forest as Hiei lashed out at Soujirou. He was being wiser this time around, however, going at an almost methodical pace relative to what he was capable of as he worked to create a gap in his opponent's defenses. However, no weakness could be found, and when Soujirou hopped backwards to avoid a horizontal slash, Hiei followed suit, and the duel became a standoff as the fire demon tried to formulate a better strategy.

"You must've really practiced a lot, Mr. Takahashi," said Soujirou cheerily. "Your technique is better now. However, please don't think me rude for saying so, but you're still not nearly good enough to touch me, Mr. Takahashi."

Hiei merely grunted in response, holding back his anger. He was not about to let Soujirou goad him into a reckless attack. That wasn't to say he wouldn't be attacking at all, however.

"Hn, your arrogance is unfounded, brat," scoffed Hiei. "You have yet to see what I'm truly capable of."

Hiei then sheathed his sword and shifted down into a battoujutsu stance, just as the Battousai had done against him earlier. While he had lost that fight, it had served to recall some of forgotten lessons he had learned when he first was taught swordsmanship. As the very purpose of learning swordsmanship had been to make up for his decrease in power that came with accepting the Jagan Eye, battoujutsu had been one of he first techniques he had learned as a way to compensate for lost speed. However, he had never been terribly masterful at it, and thus eventually stopped using it all together. Right now, though, he needed some way to counter Soujirou's speed, and this was the only option he could think of.

"Battoujutsu, huh? Too bad…I was learning a lot from this fight," Soujirou said with a sigh. "But I guess it had to end at some point."

To Hiei's astonishment, the boy sheathed his own sword, and then mimicked Hiei's stance. Although, "mimicked" is perhaps the wrong word, for the boy's stance was far superior to the fire demon's. Cursing inwardly, Hiei made one last attempt to gain an advantage. While maintaining the basic form of his stance, he back-flipped through the air and planted his feet firmly against the trunk of a large tree. Without pause, he then proceeded to use it as a springboard as he propelled himself forward with far greater speed then he would have achieved on the ground. Soujirou responded by dashing forward with phenomenal speed of his own, and the two battoujutsu moves met head on.

The speed at which the swords were unsheathed was so quick that they could scarcely be seen as both attacks were unleashed, and the two combatants passed by each other as they allowed themselves to be carried by the momentum. One landed gracefully on their feet, the other landed harshly on their side. One made it out without a scratch, the other was leaving a trail of crimson in their wake. One had just won, and the other had just lost. The former was Soujirou, and the latter was Hiei.

"Well, Mr. Takahashi, it seems that I won again," noted Soujirou with a cheery smile.

"Shut up!" roared back Hiei, unable and unwilling to think of something else to say as he leapt to his feet and blindly charged his opponent.

Now that his rage had a grip on him, Hiei was unable to follow Soujirou as the boy swiftly circled around behind him. Soujirou had a clean shot at Hiei's back, and could have killed, maimed, or otherwise incapacitated the fire demon from that position. Yet, instead of a biting pain in his spine or a dull blow to his skull, Hiei felt a gust of wind roar past him, accompanied by several bits of debris lightly pelting his back. Suddenly, Hiei was frozen still with his eyes wide in disbelief, unable to will himself to look behind him. It was not what he had felt that caused this, but rather it was what he had heard: the rhythmic "thwip-thwip" cutting through the wind, the distinct crumbling sound of the ground being churned into bits and pieces, and most importantly, the voice that followed.

"You know, I might not have recognized you if you weren't all bruised and bloody. It wouldn't be normal."

Slowly, Hiei fought off his paralysis and turned around to look at the speaker, hardly able to believe what had just happened. Any doubts were quickly cast aside as he caught sight of the speaker. Sure enough, the speaker was none other than Sango, her hand maintaining a tight grip on her boomerang as stood protectively in front of the still speechless Hiei.

"Before you start," continued Sango, risking a glance over her shoulder to flsh the fire demon a grin. "Don't give me any of that 'It's my fight' crap, because I'm not going to listen to it. I'm here to rescue you, and I'm not letting you stop me."


	34. Chapter Thirty Three: End of the Tunnel

**To the readers/reviewers:** This is becoming a bad habit. How is it taking me almost a month to write a chapter? Why am I leaving you guys with a cliffhanger for so long? Yuck…I suck at this. Seriously, I'm not being very grateful to you people, am I? I mean, here you are, reading my fic, leaving me reviews, and then I go and take forever to update. I hope you guys can forgive me, and that you'll still read my fic, because, although the lack of updates may not make it seem like it, I really do appreciate it. You guys have been great, so just hang on. We're almost to the end…

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages **

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Thirty-Three: The End of the Tunnel**

Soujirou calmly regarded the pair before him, his cheerful smile never faltering for an instant. However, on this occasion the smile was genuine. Ever since the defeat of Shishio, he had wandered the land searching for his own path through life, and his own philosophy to follow. He had questions that needed answering, but had currently found no way of answering any of them. That is, until now.

"That's not very polite, miss," Soujirou remarked to the young woman who had attacked him a moment ago. "When two people are dueling, it is generally considered rude to interrupt them, I think."

"Cut the act," returned the other, shifting the large weapon that rested on her back. "I'm giving you one chance to walk away. I suggest that you take it."

Soujirou simply smiled and shook his head in response. This woman was unusually strong, but he could still tell that she would stand no chance against him on her strength alone, and Hiei Takahashi, who she was shielding behind her, had been wounded too greatly to be a factor anymore. According to Shishio's thoughts on strength, this meant that the victor would clearly be Soujirou, as he was the strongest.

_'But Mr. Himura would think differently, perhaps,'_ mused Soujirou. _'According to him, true strength can only come when you are fighting to protect something…well then, it seems that it is time to find out who was right.' _

Soujirou began to shift down into his fighting stance, but even as he started the motion, the unknown woman sprung into action, hurling her odd weapon towards him with unexpected force. As powerful of an attack as it was, it was simply far too slow to use against Soujirou, and that boy easy leapt away from the attack. However, he did not attempt to counterattack, and instead merely watched carefully as the strange weapon returned to its master. Taking a rough measurement of the distance between himself and his assailant, he hoped a few paces backwards and waited for the next attack.

The young woman, it seemed, had failed to notice his calculations, and again sent her weapon hurtling through the air. The response from Soujirou was different this time around, however. Instead of waiting until the last minute to dodge, he waited for one count before stepping quickly to the left and dashing forward, seemingly right towards the incoming projectile. In actuality, however, he was just to the left of it, and it passed by him harmlessly as he continued onward towards its now unarmed wielder. He almost lazily slashed diagonally at the woman as he approached, the angle of his attack giving her no choice but to dodge to her own left. He hastily followed her, for a moment later the woman's weapon came flying back on its return path.

Soujirou felt the wind whistle behind him as the weapon crashed into the spot of ground where the woman should have been to catch it. Instead, there was nothing there except Hiei, who could be heard cursing as he threw himself out of the weapon's path.

"Bastard! You were trying to finish him off!" accused the woman angrily, hastily unsheathing a dagger from under her sleeve.

In actuality, Soujirou had merely intended to put as much distance between the woman and her weapon as he could. After witnessing the attack twice, it had been easy for Soujirou to judge the timing and angle of the weapon's return and simply direct the young woman away from it. While Hiei had indeed been in the way, Soujirou had been very confident that he would be able to remove himself from harm. The dagger that was being thrust towards his heart told him that no one would listen to this explanation, however.

Although the hidden weapon was unexpected, it was easily dealt with. A quick and precise cut from his katana slashed across the woman's wrist, and with a cry of pain she was forced to drop the dagger. This had also worked to throw her off balance, and she stumbled into the root of a large tree, sending her sprawling onto the forest floor. The fight was clearly over.

_'It seems that you were wrong about what true strength is, Mr. Himura…' _

Slightly disappointed, Soujirou was about to knock the woman unconscious with the hilt of his sword when he sensed rapid movement from the rear. He whirled about just in time to block the attacker's sword with his own, and in doing so experienced shock for the first time in months. The person attacking him was not another newcomer, but Hiei, his eyes ablaze as their swords locked.

"I never said our fight was over," snarled the policeman as he pushed with renewed vigor against Soujirou's blade. "You're going to die for thinking otherwise."

Hiei suddenly broke the deadlock and let loose a storm of cuts and slashes with more speed than Soujirou had ever seen out of him. Soujirou managed to escape the assault totally unharmed, but he was so surprised by it that he was being unwillingly forced backwards. He quickly leapt away to gain some breathing room, and Hiei hastily pursued him. The young woman's voice could be heard as the duelists left her behind, but they had moved far enough away where the sounds of sword on sword made it impossible to decipher the words.

_'He seems to be far stronger than he was before,'_ noted Soujirou as he parried another furious attack. _'Perhaps I spoke too soon, Mr. Himura…'_

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Sano cursed silently to himself as he felt yet another thorn of some kind bite into his leg. He now had no less than thirty tiny, slightly bloody holes in his pants at this point, one for every minute he had been scouring the woods for this "Hiei" person. From what Kenshin had said about his own encounter with the policeman, Sano had absolutely no idea why the diminutive swordsman had any friends in the first place, much less ones that would go through so much trouble to find him. Nonetheless, he had promised he would help, so he was going to help, even if it meant an extra trip to the tailors.

_'Damn it…I bet this wouldn't have happened if we hadn't split up. I always get the bad draw. Ouch! Does every plant in this forest have thorns?'_

He was about to take out his aggression on the nearest foliage when a loud crash ripped through the forest. In an instant, the thorns were forgotten, and his zanbatou was now free of its case, which lay abandoned on the ground as he sprinted of in the direction of the sound. Moments later, another crash was heard, and not long after that, there was a third crash. He could hear Sango's voice calling out to someone, and the faint sound of swords clashing as he picked up his pace. Then the noise stopped, and as he finally burst into the clearing where the sounds had come from, he didn't expect to see anything good.

Fortunately, the situation was not quite as bad as he had thought it might be. Sango was half kneeled, half laying down on the ground, gripping her wrist and cringing, while her large weapon was imbedded in the earth a good distance away from her. Before Sano could form a question, Kuwabara tore through the undergrowth, his wooden sword in hand, and beat him to it.

"What happened? Did that Soujirou guy attack you? Is Hiei fighting him?" demanded the boy, not taking time to figure things out on his own.

"Yeah, they went off that way," answered Sango pointing over her shoulder. "I don't kn-"

"Damn it, shorty!" cursed Kuwabara before hastily dashing off in the direction Sango had indicated.

"Wait! Kuwabara! We need to be careful!" Sano called out, but could only sigh as his warning went completely ignored.

Sano hefted his zanbatou in preparation to pursue the boy, but was stopped when he heard another grunt of pain coming from Sango's direction. He looked over to witness the young woman attempting to hobble over to her weapon, wincing with every step. It was clear that she had twisted her ankle somehow, and while it was possible that she could recover completely in a matter of hours or even minutes, there was no way she would be able to continue fighting for now. Pressed for time and not having much room for manners in the first place, Sano simply walked over to her, and threw her over the shoulder that his zanbatou wasn't resting on.

"What the hell are you doing, you neanderthal?" demanded Sango furiously, fruitlessly trying to squirm away from the man. "I am _not_ going to be carried like a child, do you hear me?"

"Well, you're not doin' any fightin', either," Sano retorted curtly before setting Sango down against a large tree. "I get where you're comin' from, but just sit tight for now. You can't help anyone when you're hurt like that."

"But I'm not…" began Sango defiantly, before trailing off as Sano shot her a skeptical look.

"Don't worry," continued Sano, smiling deviously. "I'll make sure your precious little boyfriend gets back in one piece."

Normally, Sano was convinced that cameras were an instrument of evil, but seeing Sango's bug eyed, gaping face turn completely crimson was enough of a sight to make him wish he carried one with him all the time. Realizing retaliation would be swift and brutal, Sano hastily sprinted off in the direction Kuwabara had left in, a barrage of curses and insults following in his wake.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Although Hiei was unsure how long he had been assaulting Soujirou or how far he had driven him back, he was sure of one thing: he was finally winning. Each cut he made felt stronger and faster than the last, his wound was barely hurting, and he felt lighter on his feet. The difference was clear in Soujirou, as well. Since Hiei had first launched his attack, Soujirou had not managed to get off a single counter-strike of his own, although he had managed to avoid any damage himself.

Eager to change that, Hiei continued his attack, bearing down with a series of quick slashes that were predictably parried, before suddenly changing direction and circling around to Soujirou's left flank. With a vicious battle cry, he let loose a thunderous downward strike down towards his opponent. Before it could hit home, however, Soujirou had disappeared from sight using his unparalleled speed, and was spared from the blade. The ground he had been standing on, however, was not. In fact, the sword had managed to cut a thin line straight through it, as though it hadn't been there at all.

_'This strength…this feeling…could it be that I've finally reawakened my spirit energy?' _pondered Hiei, looking down at his hands in disbelief. _'Now I can really make that fool for all that he's done.'_

"You see it by now, don't you? The inevitable?" Hiei said menacingly as he slowly turned around to face Soujirou. "You are fated to die today, worm, and I am fated to kill you."

Hiei did not realize it, but he was more right then he though about his spirit energy. For, as he faced Soujirou, there was something different about his appearance that only an astute observer like Soujirou would have noticed. From under his bandana, a faint purple glow could be seen, like a sliver of light from underneath a closed door. The Jagan was starting to open itself.

"Really? That's not what I see at all," replied Soujirou, smiling and rubbing the back of his head. "I see some trees, the sun…"

"Stop playing games!" Hiei roared furiously, charging Soujiriou in a rage.

However, Soujirou again disappeared from sight before Hiei's sword found its mark, only to reappear several meters away from Hiei again. If Hiei hadn't been conviced that he was beginning to re-find his power before, he surely was now. The air around him was beginning to vibrate with his spirit energy as it ever so slowly began to build in intensity, and the Jagan opened a hair more.

"I will say that I see something different about you, though, Mr. Takahashi," Soujirou remarked cheerily before dropping into a battoujutsu stance. "So, sorry if this seems kind of sudden, but I think I'm going to end our duel now, okay?"

"Hn, you're serious? Battoujutsu?" scoffed Hiei indignantly. "That won't work on me twice, boy."

"Actually, not exactly," answered the other. "Tell me, Mr. Takahashi, did you notice something different about how I moved when I used the battoujutsu from when I moved just a second ago?"

Hiei narrowed his eyes as he tried to recall what had happened. He first visualized the battoujutsu, and then he tried to visualize Soujirou's other movements. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open wide. Normally, Soujirou used some unknown technique that made him move at unthinkable speed, but he hadn't used that for the battoujutsu, because the battoujutsu was fast enough on its own.

"It looks like you figured it out. That was pretty fast of you," Soujirou commented. "Normally when I move, my speed comes from a technique called Shukuchi, but I didn't use it for that battoujutsu. In other words, if I combine the two, it will be much faster."

For the first time that Hiei had noticed, Soujirou's smile faltered a little as the boy finished getting into his stance. Gritting his teeth Hiei shifted his sword into position and made to attack. Just as he had taken his first steps though, Soujirou softly uttered three words:

"Shun Ten Satsu."

Hiei felt the sword bite into his abdomen before he could even register that Soujirou had moved. He was sent spinning sideways through the air, blood splattering the ground that he passed over. After what felt like an eternity, he finally hit the ground with dull thud and a gasp of shock and pain. He slowly turned himself over to see that Soujirou had his back to him, and was now walking away.

"This really isn't your day, Mr. Takahashi. Maybe you could try agai-"

"Silence. This still isn't over."

Soujirou turned around to find a sight that caused his smile to drop completely. Somehow, Hiei was raising himself to his feet. While the attack had essentially defeated him, his returning spirit energy was enough fuel to will his body onward. Unfortunately, willpower can only force the body so far, and when Hiei tried to attack Soujirou, he found himself stumbling forward like a drunk instead of charging like a warrior. Grimacing as he tried to balance himself, he expected to hear Soujirou's sword cutting through his flesh once again. Instead, he heard something quite different: a the loud noise of something surging through the bushes, accompanied with an even louder battle cry.

"Why don't you quit picking on shorties and fight a real man, punk?" yelled Kazuma Kuwabara, leaping over Hiei's head and straight towards Soujirou while gripping a wooden sword.

Stunned, Hiei could only watch dumbly as Kuwabara began to attack Soujirou. While Kuwabara's slashes and cuts were more precise than Hiei remembered them to be, it was obvious that Kuwabara was far too slow to even compete with Soujirou. Fortunately for Kuwabara, he had only fought Soujirou for a few moments when yet another party intervened: a very large tree falling straight towards the two combatants. Soujirou used his Shukuchi to easily escape, while Kuwabara used the less graceful method of diving out of the way while crying out expletives.

Puzzled, Hiei glanced over in the direction from which the tree had fell to find out exactly what had happened, and what caused it. The first answer was fairly easy to accept: judging by the giant stump left standing where the tree had been, it seemed that the tree had been cut down very cleanly. The second answer was slightly harder to swallow: it appeared that the tall man standing behind the stump was responsible for said action by using a sword that seemed to be at least three or four times as big as Hiei himself.

"Oh, hello there, Mr. Sagara," greeted Soujirou politely as the tall man stepped out from the trees. "Are these guys friends of yours?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Sagara replied, hefting his sword back up to his shoulder. "Look, Soujirou, I trusted Kenshin when he let you go walk your own path, and I don't think you're a bad guy. However…"

Sagara broke off unexpectedly and slammed his massive sword down into the ground, creating a small crater with the impact and scattering dust and rocks in the air. Letting his sword rest there, he continued speaking.

"These guys are with me, so if you fight them, then you're going to be fighting me too. Got it?"

"I understand, Mr. Sagara. I don't want to fight you," Soujirou cheerfully answered, sheathing his sword. "In fact, the only reason I was fighting your spiky haired policeman friend was that I was trying to learn something."

"Trying to learn something? What the hell are you babbling about," spat Hiei, unable to control his frustration.

"Just the answer to an important question. You helped me very much, so I thank you for that, Mr. Takahashi," answered Soujirou before bowing politely and turning back to Sagara. "And Mr. Sagara, please do me a favor when you next see Mr. Himura and tell him that he was right. I would be very grateful if you could do that for me."

Hiei had absolutely no idea what the boy was talking about, but Sagara nodded in apparent understanding. Then, with a final smile and a wave of goodbye to everyone present, Soujirou vanished from sight, the only sign of movement being the dust that rose in reaction to his rapid movements.

"Hey, Sano, what was he talkin' about?" Kuwabara asked as he scratched his head.

"Long story," Sano replied, before hefting his sword and turning to Hiei. "So, this is Hiei, huh? Geeze, I thought you were kidding when you told me how short he was."

"No, Kuwabara's nickname for Hiei is pretty accurate," came Kurama's voice as the fox demon dropped down from the trees in front of Hiei. "Wouldn't you agree, 'shorty'?"

"Hn, don't push it, fox," snarled Hiei, clutching the both the wound on his abdomen and the one on his side. "What are you fools doing here, anyway? I told you that I was fine on my own."

"Obviously," shot back Kurama sarcastically as he pointed towards the fire demon's wounds. "As soon as you let me stop your bleeding, we'll explain everything."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Sango flicked another pebble at the rock she was pretending was Sanosuke's head. Although it looked nothing at all like a human head, either in shape or proportion, it was the best object that was within range, so it served its purpose. Unfortunately, that was the last pebble that she was able to reach from her position up against the large tree where said thug had left her, so now all she could do was think unpleasant thoughts in his direction.

_'What an ass. Honestly, the nerve of that guy, trying to tease me for something he's just assuming…even if it isn't that far from the truth. You shouldn't just go saying those things so bluntly! When he gets back…'_

Suddenly, Sango realized just how long she had been waiting. No matter how much of a numbskull Sano was, she knew he wouldn't just forget about her. As soon as the fight was over, surely they would all return for her. Yet, it had been so long. Her ankle was already feeling much better, and she could tell that the sun had moved in the sky since he had left.

_'Could that guy have really…? He might be strong enough. Even if they fought him all at once, he might still have been able to,'_ Sango thought, though she was horrified at the idea. _'I can't sit around any longer. They could be bleeding death out there, I have to go help!'_

She rose gingerly to her feet, and was about to go retrieve her boomerang when several figures emerged from the forest in front of her. Sure enough, it was Sanosuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei, all walking towards her. Upon seeing her, the fire demon stopped walking forward, and just stared. For a moment, their eyes were locked, and neither seemed capable of movement. However, Sango could not maintain this for long, for within moments her eyes were beginning to tear up, and her legs seemed to rush forward on their own accord. Soon, she had the stunned fire demon in a tight hug. While his body was rigid, and he was not hugging back, he was not resisting her, either.

"You're ok-kay…y-you're really okay…I th-thought you were…" she managed to stammer out in between sobs. "I know…I know you t-told me to let go…bu-but there are some things…there are some things that are worth holding onto! So…so I'm not going to let you go! Do you hear me?"

Her hug became even tighter, and at first, Hiei became still more rigid. Within a few moments, though, as Sango's sobs began to slow down, he relaxed himself, and allowed her to hold him upright in her arms. The other three people present in the clearing watched the spectacle silently, one with a gentle smile, one with a bemused smirk, and the other looked as though the Queen of England had appeared out of thin air and killed a small animal with a boombox that was blaring heavy metal. This silence, however, predictably ended when the second party could no longer keep his mouth shut:

"So, I guess this means your ankle is all better, huh?"

Sanosuke's forehead did not stop bleeding until nightfall.


	35. Chapter Thirty Four: Move to the Future

**To the readers/reviewers:** Hey, guys. I know it's been a while, but seeing as this is the last chapter before the epilogue (which will be a proper epilogue and take place some time after the main story, unlike my "prologue"), I wanted to do it right. Plus, it's very long, so it took a while to write, anyways. At any rate, enjoy the end to the main story. It's almost exactly the same way I envisioned it when I first started this thing.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Chapter Thirty-Four: Move to the Future**

Once Sano had managed to bandage his forehead and Kuwabara had recovered from his shocked state enough to walk, the travelers had headed back to the hotel room Hiei had in Yokohama to lick their wounds and decide on their next course of action. The only problem was that they needed a way to remove Sanosuke from the conversation, since they would undoubtedly be discussing things of the supernatural nature. Fortunately, this was easily resolved by unanimously picking the ex-mercenary to go buy them some food, although he forced a compromise to pay for it with Hiei's money, since the only reason they were even in Yokohama was "to save the angry little gnome". He managed to avoid the rock this time.

Once Sano had left, Hiei was quickly given a summary of the situation, although he had managed to infer most of the important pieces on his own. After all, Sango's possession of a new sword had been a dead giveaway.

"Well, now that everyone is up to speed, the only question is: what do we do next?" Kurama put forth once Hiei seemed to fully understand what was going on. "It's clear that our eventual destination is Tokyo in our own time, but the only question is how to get there."

"Well…we still can't use Spirit Energy, so we need to figure out which way is safest," reasoned Kuwabara. "So maybe we should head back there in this time, and then head back to our time when we get there."

"That sounds reasonable, but we should head back to my time, first," amended Sango. "Everyone will want to know we're okay, and that's where they're waiting."

"In that case, we should definitely head for the Kagome's well in Tokyo. We'll need to make sure that we arrive in the Feudal Era in a safe place," concluded Kurama. "Speaking of the others, how is Yusuke? He hasn't really experienced defeat or loss before so I would imagine that he was a bit under the weather for a while."

Sango waited for a moment before responding as she recalled Kagome comparing Yusuke to a very irritable zombie when Kurama, Kuwabara and Hiei had all been thought lost. She did not want to cause any worry among those present, however, so she decided to tone it down a bit.

"He handled himself all right," she answered ambiguously, to the knowing "hn" of Hiei.

Kurama, who also looked skeptical was about to speak again when Sanosuke barged into the room carrying a pair of small boxes, a flask, and five cups. Assuming correctly that it was food, Kuwabara hastily snatched one out of his hands and opened it to find an amount of kabob-like skewers of small dumplings.

"Cool, dango!" exclaimed Kuwabara as he picked up a skewer. "I used to have these all the time when I was a little shrimp, they're pretty sweet."

"I got some tea for to help 'em go down, too," Sano said as he set down the flask and the little cups. "I kinda'…borrowed the cups, from the hotel, though."

No one present had eaten for some time, so everyone was quick to dig in. Everyone, that is, save Hiei, who was simply studying his as though looking for some kind of trap.

"Oh come on, just try it," urged Sango, elbowing him in the ribs. "You'll probably like it."

"Hn, I'll decide whether I like it or not, woman," scoffed Hiei and then turned his attention back to his dango.

With the caution of someone trying to diffuse a bomb, Hiei slowly raised the dango to his mouth and took a nibble so small one could barely notice the dumpling had been touched at all.

"It's…passable," he muttered grumpily, although as soon as Sango took her eyes off of him he devoured the rest of it in seconds.

"Sanosuke…I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but shouldn't the money Hiei gave you have paid for more food then this?" asked Kurama, throwing Sano a curious look.

Sanosuke took several seconds longer then necessary to chew his food before swallowing it, before putting on his very best "I know nothing!" looks and shrugging unconvincingly.

"The little guy didn't give me that much money. Food's expensive, ya' know."

"True," admitted Kurama. "But I remember us passing a dango place not too far away from here, and you were gone for well over an hour."

Sano's face twitched as he struggled to maintain an innocent look. One look at the accusing faces staring back at him, however, was enough to convince him of the futility of that tactic. So, he hastily shifted to his "I can explain…" look, and started spewing excuses.

"Well, you see, I hadn't seen that place on the way here, and Yokohama's a big city, so I kinda' wandered around for a while and browsed the prices, and…"

"Oh please. I bet you spent it all on sake, you dolt," deadpanned Sango.

"No I didn't! I just saw this dice game an-" Sano hastily cut off his denial too late, and could only smile nervously and try to continue. "And…and I walked right past it because gambling is wrong, and you're probably not going to win, even if you're feeling really lucky, which I happened to be feeling…"

The faces staring back at him were no longer simply accusing him, they were downright sentencing him. Sensing that the situation was now hopeless, Sano slowly began to inch backwards only to be forced into a much faster pace as he narrowly avoided one of the empty dango boxes.

"I swear it was rigged! I would've exposed it, bu-OW! Damn it, lady, you're insane! Those skewers are sharp!"

"We were starving and you were _gambling_? Do you have any sense at all?"

As Sano's vengeful assault continued, Kurama leaned over to Hiei and whispered, "Shouldn't you be writing 'remember to feed her' somewhere?"

Oddly, nothing was said in return. Surprised, Kurama turned towards Hiei as though to make sure the fire demon wasn't simply glaring at him. This wasn't the case either. Instead, Hiei was simply staring off into space with his brow furrowed, clearly deep in thought. This behavior was decidedly not normal, and Kurama had a good guess as to its cause. He was about to rouse the fire demon from his trance, but the sounds of the escalating quarrel between Sano and Sango convinced him that preventing any further damage to the hotel room was of higher priority for the moment. He had no wish to be caught in the crossfire should the zanbatou and Hiraikotsu come out.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

After leaving hastily leaving the hotel before the management gotten the chance to see the damage that had been done to their room and informing Sanosuke that they were headed back to Tokyo, the travelers found themselves traveling on foot instead of by sea as they had expected. Apparently, the favor that had been owed to Sanosuke was only good for a one-way trip. Still, it wasn't as if they were in a great rush like before, and Tokyo wasn't all that far away from Yokohama to begin with, so the complaints were kept to minimum. In fact, Sanosuke seemed to be the one complaining the most.

"I still think it's kind of weird that you're headed back to Tokyo," he noted for the umpteenth time. "I mean, if you were coming back, then you should have saved the goodbyes for then. If you show up at the dojo now, you'll just look stupid."

"We felt it would be easier to say goodbye sooner rather then later," Kurama replied, although he was forced to elaborate slightly when Sano shot him a quizzical look. "It's a psychological thing."

Sano scratched his head for a second and then shrugged. Anything with a name that long would clearly take a great deal of effort to understand, and that alone was reason enough for Sano to dismiss it.

Meanwhile, towards the rear of the group, Hiei was having his own problems understanding something. Unlike Sano, this didn't come from simple laziness. In fact, it was entirely forgivable that he was not understanding it, for "it" is one of the more unknown subjects in the history of the world: women.

"Hiei, I'm being serious. I want to know why you did it," Sango said, looking down at Hiei with questioning eyes that he was refusing to meet. "Why did you sacrifice yourself for me back at the temple?"

"I told you, woman, it wasn't a sacrifice," denied Hiei, struggling to keep his gaze on the road. "I intended to avoid the blast along with you. I miscalculated, that was all."

"You know that isn't true. Anyone could plainly see you were going to have no chance of escaping, especially you," she said tapping is forehead with her index finger, which was quickly batted away. "If you won't admit it, then I'll just tell you. You did it because y-"

"Don't presume to speak for me, woman!" snapped Hiei, bringing his head about to glare at his tormentor.

He realized his mistake too late, for he had already come into eye contact with her. He struggled to control the blood that was flowing into his cheeks as Sango's eyes stared softly back at his. Finding himself suddenly forgetting what he was going to say, he cursed inwardly and finally succeeded in tearing his gaze away from the demon slayer.

"See, that wasn't so hard," teased Sango as she smiled down on him.

"Hn," snorted Hiei, turning his eyes shifting even further away from her. "I didn't ay anything."

"You didn't have to," Sango explained, prompting Hiei to look in the opposite direction her entirely.

The situation he was in was not one he was used to dealing with. In fact, he had never really dealt with it before. This young woman was obviously trying to become close with him, the extents of which he was either unsure of or simply was trying not to think about. Such an occurance had never happened before. Even Kurama kept a respectful distance from the fire demon when asked, and never tried to be any more of a friend than Hiei let him. This was different, however. Sango was stubborn, curious, and entirely unintimidated by him. He did not know how to react, and that was causing him a great deal of internal struggle.

_'I should just tell her to leave me alone,'_ he thought, but was quick to rebut himself. _'But do I want that?'_

He had to stop himself from shaking his head in answer. Even if he had the answer to that particular question, he still did not know what it was he should do next. He continued brooding on this question for the rest of the day, listlessly following the others as they headed off the road to set up a fire as night fell, and barely tasting the food they had bought with the last of his money from a traveling salesman along the road. Since silence was normal for him, no one seemed to mind much. Even Sango had limited her conversations with him, though it was likely this was because she was occupied by thoughts of her own. Hiei dared not think about what those were. In fact, it was not until he thought himself the last one still awake that he was truly pulled away from his thoughts.

"You're not acting normal, Hiei," Kurama remarked from across the fire, where he was sitting on a small log. "Something's bothering you."

"Hn, nothing's bothering me, fox," scoffed Hiei curtly. "Now mind your own damned business."

"All right, let me be a little more blunt," pressed Kurama, and then pointed towards Hiei's feet. "_That's_ bothering you, now tell me why."

Hiei followed Kurama's finger down to his feet, and it was only then that he realized that Sango's head had somehow come to rest on them. He had been so lost in thought that he had failed to notice. Carefully, he removed his feet from underneath her, and then resolved to continue to berate his companion, only to be preempted.

"You honestly don't know how to react, do you?" continued Kurama, and elaborated when he was only replied was silence. "Just accept her. That's all you have to do."

"You don't understand," hissed Hiei angrily, but with controlled volume. "I was born to live my life alone, Kurama. I can't share it with anyone else, not even Yukina, and that means I can't share it with _her_, either."

"I'm not going to ask you to talk about your past, Hiei. However, I will tell you this: your past does not control your future; only the present can do that," replied Kurama, giving Hiei a stern look. "It is only your fate to be alone if you allow it to be. You can change that any time you want."

For a moment, Hiei had no response but to look down at the young woman that rested by his feet. He recalled having a similar conversation with Kurama during the Dark Tournament, except that time it was about Yukina. Kurama had not convinced him then, but some part of him normally kept hidden told him to give the fox demon another chance.

"Kurama…you remember when I told you why I could not tell everything to Yukina back at the Dark Tournament?" he asked rhetorically. "That had nothing to do with my past, Kurama. That is who I _am_: a murderer and a criminal."

"But you're the only one who sees yourself like that," Kurama responded simply.

"Hn, if they don't, then it's because they don't know enough," shot back Hiei.

"How could you know that? You never let anyone know about you to begin with," said Kurama with a sigh. "Just give someone a chance, for once."

Hiei was silent after that. Kurama, thinking his point had been made, shifted himself onto the ground in a sleeping position, but Hiei did not follow suit. He just sat there, staring down at Sango's sleeping form. He stayed like this for hours, unmoving as the merits of each decision turned over in his mind. At long last, he came to a conclusion, and before he could question his decision, he promptly lay down where he sat, and fell fast asleep, knowing that tomorrow may very well be the most fateful day of his life.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

After another day of travel, the five travelers were back in Tokyo. Fortunately, the streets were relatively empty, making Sano's giant case and Sango's slightly less giant "concealed" weapon much less of a problem they would have been if the streets had been packed. They were already heading in the direction of Kagome's future home when Sano spoke up.

"Well, I guess this is where I get off," he announced, causing the rest of the group to stop. "I'm not the type for big sappy goodbyes, so I'll just get right to it: If we're going to meet again, then see ya' around. If not, goodbye, and take care of yourselves. Yeah, even you, maniac."

Before Sango could get the chance to come back at him with a barb of her own, Sano had already given Kuwabara a light punch on the shoulder before walking off down the road. With a casual wave of farewell over his shoulder, he rounded another corner as the wind caught his jacket, showcasing the symbol for "bad" that adorned it for one last time before it disappeared from view.

"He didn't even let us say goodbye…" commented Kurama, slightly befuddled.

"Yeah, that'd be Sano far ya'," chuckled Kuwabara before shrugging and continuing down the road. "He's a little like Yusuke that way, ya' know?"

"Now that you mention it, they are a little similar…" agreed Sango, but then quickly added. "Except Yusuke was never that irritating."

"Hn, only to you," added Hiei dryly, to everyone's amusement.

It only took them a few more minutes to reach the shrine, which was shockingly similar to Kagome's home in her own time, or at least that's what Kurama seemed to think. His judgment would have to be trusted, however, seeing as Kuwabara had forgotten what her home looked like, and Hiei had not taken the time to look over her case file as thoroughly as Kurama had.

"Well, this is it," announced Sango, unsheathing Masaruten. "Are you guys ready?"

"Yeah we-hey!" exclaimed Kuwabara, suddenly looking all over in a panic. "Where'd shorty go?"

Much to Kurama and Sango's surprise, Kuwabara was right. Hiei was nowhere to be found. In fact, he was two blocks away, walking through Tokyo Police Headquarters. Confident that Kurama or Sango would understand enough to wait for him at the shrine, he had slipped away from them as soon as he learned the shrine's location. He had some final business to take care of before he left the Meiji Era for good, and that business was currently in the office of Hajime Saitou.

"Finally admitted defeat on the manhunt, Hiei?" asked Saitou rhetorically without looking up from his desk. "Good. I'm glad to see you've finally managed to find the tiniest inkling of common sense."

"Hn, I did not come here to listen to your quips," scoffed the fire demon disdainfully. "I came here to inform you of my departure.

At this, Saitou looked up from his desk. Hiei tensed as the swordsman's wolfish eyes stared piercingly at him. Even though it only lasted a moment, Hiei didn't feel fully comfortable until those eyes were once again focused on the desk instead of him.

"Then leave," spoke Saitou tonelessly, scratching out something on a piece of paper. "If you want to go that badly, then go, you don't have to ask me for permission. I'm not your mother."

Hiei regarded the Wolf of Mibu for a moment longer, trying to decipher some kind of emotion, but he came up empty handed. Either the man was in perfect control of himself, or he truly had reached that ultimate pinnacle of discarding all emotional attachments. Either way, it was something Hiei had to respect, and he bowed his head ever so slightly before exiting the office, leaving his brief career as a policeman behind him, and went to face his future, waiting for him at Kagome's well.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Yusuke tapped his foot impatiently as he scanned the forest around him, both with his eyes and ears as well as with his spiritual awareness. Both methods came up dry. Sighing, he, for the fourth time, raised his hands to his mouth, and shouted:

"Oh no! I'm lost in the woods with no protection, all alone! Someone help me before a demon comes and eats my guts!"

Again, he scanned the forest with his senses, but this time he found something. It was more the rustling of branches that clued him in more than his spiritual awareness. Not that the demon was concealing its presence well, it was just unbelievably week. However, it was the first taker he had gotten in a while, so it would have to do.

"Hee hee, what a delicious meal," cackled an irritatingly high pitched voice from behind Yusuke. "I think I will devour you whole!"

Yusuke turned slowly around to regard the demon as it flew down towards him from the trees. He couldn't tell exactly what kind of demon it was, but it had spikes protruding from its back, and a long, ugly snout. As it drew near, it let out another high pitched cackle, and brought a clawed hand above its head in preparation to strike. However, the cackling was abruptly cut off when Yusuke's hand shot out and grabbed the demon by the throat.

"You know, I'm beginning to understand why there aren't so many of you demons in the future," taunted Yusuke with a smirk as the annoying demon gasped for air. "You all kept falling for the same stupid tricks over and over."

His obligatory trash talk now complete, Yusuke tossed the demon high into the air, unheeding of its shrill screaming when he let go of its throat. Slowly, he brought his right index finger and thumb to bear as the demon began to fall, steadying his arm with his left hand and closing one eye as he lined up the shot.

"Three…two…one…Spirit Gun!"

The brilliant blue beam of energy shot out from his fingertip on command, flying through the night sky and connecting with the falling demon in a flash of light.

"Don't you ever get bored of that?" asked Inuyasha from his perch in a nearby tree, where he had been watching the whole thing without much interest.

"Nope," answered Yusuke, still smirking widely. "Besides, it's not like the world wouldn't be better with a few less demons. No offense, dog-boy."

"Feh, I aint nothin' like those demons," Inuyasha muttered as he leapt down his tree and began to exit the forest. "Whatever, I'm going to go see what Kagome's doing."

Shrugging, Yusuke followed after the half-demon. Yusuke's demon skeet shooting had sort of become a routine over the past few days, for it seemed that demons were the only thing in the feudal era that could provide Yusuke with any entertainment. While he could now travel back and forth from his own time to the Feudal Era at will, he'd still spent most of his days waiting for Sango's return with the others. Aside from Keiko, modern food and arcade games, he figured he wasn't missing much, anyway.

It turned out that Kagome wasn't doing much aside from helping Kaede and Miroku with some chores. Yusuke had already put two and two together and figured out that they too would be coerced into helping if they were spotted, and was slowly trying to sneak away when Inuyasha blew his cover.

"Hey, Kagome!" called out the half-demon as he approached. "What're ya' doin'?"

"Cleaning. Come and help us," replied Kagome, before turning towards a still escaping Yusuke. "You too, Mr. Ninja."

"Oh come on, you're cleaning the _shack_?" retorted Yusuke, now trying to just casually walk away. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm going to go get some more target practice in."

Before Kagome could scold him, she was interrupted by Shippou, who was running as fast as he could towards the village and shouting at a pace so fast it was almost impossible to understand him.

"Guysguysguys!" yelled the little fox demon kit, still not slowing down his speech. "TherewasabigflashbythewellandIwasscaredbutnottooscaredbutthenIsaw…"

"Hold on Shippou, slow down," cut in Kagome as the kit finally reached them. "What did you see?"

"I heard 'well', that's good enough for me," said Yusuke, cracking his knuckles. "Finally, some real action!"

A moment later, Yusuke was sprinting in the direction of the well, long gone before anyone could stop him. A wide smirk borne of anticipation spread on his face as he approached. Shippou wasn't exactly strong, but he had enough experience to know what a strong demon felt like. If he was this worked up about it, it had to be something big, but he was confident he could handle it. However, as he soon found out, he was dead wrong. As soon as he came within sight of the well, he stopped dead in his tracks, mouth agape and his eyes frozen ahead of him. He had expected something big, but not this.

"I know I'm awesome, Urameshi," said a familiar carrot-topped boy. "But I'm gettin' a little wierded out with you starin' at me like that."

Sure enough, staring back at him from next to the well was Kuwabara, Hiei, Kurama and Sango, returned from their trip through time. Slowly, Yusuke grasped the situation, and the widest of smiles took shape on his face. That was all the warning his teammates had before he was upon them.

"Holy shit, you're really back! I'm not dreaming or anything!" cried Yusuke as he dashed forward and put all three of his teammates in a headlock, somehow fitting both Hiei's and Kurama's heads under one arm. "You little bastards, making me think you were dead and all that shit. I oughta keep you like this for a year for that!"

"Yus…Yusuke…we can't…" Kurama managed to gasp, at which point Yusuke finally released them from his hold. "Good to see you too…"

"What's the deal? You guys gotten soft from bein' on vacation for so long?" teased Yusuke and almost knocked Kurama over with a playful elbow to the ribs before he noticed Kuwabara's new attire. "Holy shit, you have! Kuwabara, you're wearing a dress!"

"It's not a dress! They're samurai pants!" shouted Kuwabara defensively. "You shouldn't be talkin', Urameshi, you're crying!"

"I'm not crying, stupid!" shot back Yusuke, wiping his eyes hastily. "I got a bug in my eye…damned bugs..."

By now, Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, and Shippou had arrived on the scene, and the reunion began in earnest. The returning time travelers were quick to receive hugs, noogies, and in Kurama's case, a small fox demon on the head. Hiei, naturally, managed to extract himself once everyone else had become occupied, but, to his surprise, he was soon joined by Miroku.

"Hiei, could I have a word?" asked the monk, motioning away from the rest of the group.

Hiei considered just telling the monk off, but he did not. He knew what this was about, and he therefore had to face it. Nodding, he followed the monk until they were far enough away from the others to have a private conversation, and at this point he spoke up.

"Whatever it is that you have to say, say it," he said icily. "I did not return for idle chit-chat."

"Then I'll get straight to the point," returned the monk, looking Hiei dead in the eye without wavering. "Sango's has made a choice, and I have no right to try and interfere. However, I must ask a favor of you. Please…please take care of her…and make sure that she is happy."

Hiei prevented himself from flinching as a decidedly sad element worked its way into the monk's gaze. Scoffing as though the conversation had been but a waste of time, Hiei turned on his heel and began to walk away.

"That's not something you need to worry yourself with, monk."

Taking that as an agreement, Miroku followed after Hiei, and the two of them rejoined their more elated comrades by the well.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

There were very few times where Sango had ever felt overwhelming awe in her life, yet as soon as she stepped through the portal Masaruten had created and came out on the other side, she had felt it immediately. While the Meiji Era had certainly had what could be called a city, it had really looked just like a massive version of the villages in the Feudal Era. Kagome's time, however, was a totally different story. In every direction from the shrine stood massive things that looked like giant hives, and were as big as mountains. Stranger still was that she kept seeing people popping in and out of the little, shiny holes in their sides.

"What…what are…?" she started to say before several metallic things zoom past the shrine's entrance upon a black road and succumbing to stunned silence once again. "How…?"

"I can show you it all later," interrupted Kagome as she stepped out of the well house. "But for now, let's get you inside before someone notices that sword, okay?"

"Oh…right…" agreed Sango reluctantly, eyes still transfixed on the black road as she continued to walk towards the house.

"Hn, it's only interesting the first time you see it," assured Hiei quietly from beside her. "I found that out after crossing from the Demon World to the Human World."

Sango smiled at the fire demon as she followed him into Kagome's house. She recalled Yusuke mentioning that Hiei and Kurama were originally from the Demon World before, so it would make sense that Hiei would have a similar shock to his system upon seeing the Human World for the first time. It was just like Hiei to deny that it had any significant affect on him, though.

"I just called Botan," said Yusuke, walking in the door several seconds after the rest. "She said that Koenma and her would be here right away to take care of the little problem you three have. She also said that you're going to have to be in a separate room while they're here, though, Sango."

"Why is that?" Sango asked, a little disappointed she would be missing out on meeting the ruler of Spirit World.

"Well, I would think that it has to do with that sword of yours," suggested Kurama. "Technically, the type of time traveling done by that sword is illegal, and if Koenma saw you were here with it, there might be serious legal complications."

"Don't worry, I'll keep you company," Kagome said reassuringly, and then more quietly. "Don't worry, that Koenma guy is a loudmouth, anyway. Come on, I'll show you my room."

Despite this, Sango was still a little reluctant in following Kagome up to her room. The reluctance was immediately gone, however, when Kagome began to show her all sorts of things that she had never seen before, from a digital clock-radio to a simple electric fan. Once they had gone through everything in the room, Sango began to ask about the things that could be seen from Kagome's window. Kagome was just explaining how people used elevators instead of stairs to get the top of large buildings when there was a knock on the door.

"They've left now, you can come out if you wish," came Kurama's voice from the other side of the door.

"Oh well, we can finish this later, I guess," Kagome said with a smile as she made to leave the room. "I'm going to say goodbye to everyone real quick and head back to the Feudal Era. We've got a lead on a new shard, but we don't know if it will be good in a couple of days."

Sango nodded and followed Kagome out the door, where Kurama was waiting. Kagome said a quick goodbye to Kurama before hustling down the stairs, leaving Sango and Kurama behind.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye, then," began Sango. "Of course, we'll probably meet again, now that I have Masaruten."

"Yes, I imagine we will," Kurama agreed, smiling warmly. "But before we part ways, I would just like to thank you for all you've done. If it was not for you, Hiei, Kuwabara and I may have been stranded in the past forever. If there is any way I could ever repay that debt, I would be honored to do so."

"Oh…don't worry about it…" replied Sango, a little embarrassed by such a large compliment. "Well, actually, there a re a couple things you could do. First, tell Yusuke and Kuwabara goodbye for me, and second…"

"He's in the backyard," answered Kurama to the unasked question.

"Um…thanks…" responded Sango, flushing slightly as she walked past Kurama and down the stairs.

Indeed, just as Kurama had said, Hiei was in the backyard, testing his regained spirit energy. The air around him glowed with his power, and the plants in the garden swayed back and forth from the wind that was being generated. For a moment, Sango just gazed at him, biting the bottom of her lip with slight uncertainty. However, in a moment, she had recomposed herself, and was walking towards the fire demon.

"All back to normal?" she asked as Hiei noticed her presence and powered down.

"Surprisingly," he said rather flatly. "I had my doubts about whether that fool Koenma could do it."

"You'd say that no matter who was doing it," teased Sango. "I guess they brought you a change of cloths, huh? Too bad, you looked kind of nice in that uniform."

"Hn, it was irritating," snorted Hiei, who was indeed back in his typical black outfit. "It kept scratching my neck."

Sango let out a small giggle at that last comment, earning herself a patented "Hiei death glare" in return. After a moment of awkward silence, Sango walked several paces further into the courtyard and unsheathed Masaruten.

"Well, I guess I should be going. I guess this is goodbye for good, this time," she said, before turning back towards Hiei and looking at him with poorly hidden hope. "Unless…I can come back and visit?"

For a moment, there was a pause, dead silence as Sango waited anxiously for Hiei's answer. It was amazing how, after everything that happened before, it all had come down to this one moment. All down to this one answer.

"Hn," Hiei scoffed, and for a moment Sango's heart sunk, but then Hiei continued. "Perhaps…"

Sango beamed at the little fire demon, and with that began to wield Masaruten. The kanji for "Five Hundred Years" revealed themselves in a glowing red as her fingers moved up the blade, and a moment later, Masaruten had slashed a hole in the very fabric of time, waiting for her to step through.

Then, sheathing the blade at her hip, Sango decided to do something very impulsive. Turning quickly around she walked up to Hiei and leaned down towards his face. Before the fire demon could even react, she had planted a soft kiss upon his cheek. Flashing him a smile, she hurried off towards the portal.

"I'll see you soon!" she called behind her, and then made to step through the portal.

"Wait."

As soon as she heard Hiei's voice, she stopped dead in her tracks and turned around. To her great surprise, Hiei was not where he had been standing a moment earlier. Instead, he was mere inches way from her. This time, it was her who had no chance to react to what followed. However, what Hiei was doing was in no way like what she had done. She felt movement on her hip, and suddenly Hiei's left hand shot out and slammed into her stomach, sending her flying backwards into the portal. So great was her shock that she was totally unable to speak or even cry out. All she could do was stare up at Hiei as the portal closed in front of her eyes, his crimson eyes staring coldly back at her, and Masaruten, the Sword of Time, clutched in his right hand.

She barely noticed as she hit the ground on the other side, too stunned to move. A moment later, the shock wore off, and was replaced in full by overwhelming dejection.

_'Why did he do that? He said that I could come back, I swear he did,'_ she thought as tears flowed from her eyes uncontrollably. _'Why? Why would he do this to me? I thought that he…that he had really…'_

"Sango!" interrupted Kagome's voice, causing Sango to sit up as her friend came rushing to her side. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"It was H-Hiei…he…he took the sword and he…he shoved me through the portal," Sango managed to choke out. "I don't understand…why would he do that? What did I do? What did I do, Kagome?"

Sango turned towards Kagome pleadingly, but was greeted by a stern look from her friend. It was not an unsympathetic look, but it was definitely a look that said "get a grip on yourself!" After a few more moments of sobbing, Sango managed to calm herself down, and then Kagome intervened.

"Listen to yourself! Look at what this guy has done to you!" Kagome demanded. "You haven't done anything wrong, Sango! It's not you, it's _him_! He's the one who shoved you away!"

"But…" began Sango, only to be abruptly cut off.

"No! Just listen!" Kagome snapped, before taking a deep breath and bringing her voice back to its normal level. "Listen, Sango, I've seen guys like this before. I don't know what it is, but for some reason, when anyone tries to get close, they push them away, and everyone gets hurt."

Sango's gaze turned down to the ground, and she couldn't help but think that Kagome might be right. After all, Hiei had quite literarily pushed her away from him just a minute ago.

"People like that, they have a problem, and it's a problem they can only overcome on their own," continued Kagome, taking a seat next to her friend. "No matter what you do, they're the ones that have to accept you in the end, you can't make them. If they don't then you've just got to pick yourself up, and move on."

"I guess…I guess you're right…" agreed Sango with slight reluctance. "It's not like I have a choice."

"Well, lesson learned," Kagome said with a smile. "Of course, if you ask me, that was a case of the grass being greener on the other side, anyway, no offense."

Sango gave Kagome a puzzled look as both girls stood up. She'd never heard that expression before.

"Oh, right. Well, you see there's this story about this goat…or maybe it was a cow…" began Kagome after noticing Sango's confused look. "Anyway, the point of it is that the goat…cow was so distracted by this new grass that it forgot about the perfect grass that it already had."

Sango was still a little confused. Where did the "other side" part come from? Was the goat, or cow, on one side of a wall or a river of some kind? She was still pondering this when her thoughts were again interrupted.

"Kagome! Sango! Are you there?" called out Miroku's voice. "If you can hear me, we're ready to leave as soon as you're ready!"

Suddenly, the meaning of what Kagome had said clicked. Wiping away the last tears from her eyes, she turned to the beaming schoolgirl and shot her a slightly skeptical look.

"Do you really think so?" she asked.

"That's right," replied Kagome, still smiling. "But hey, you won't know until you try, right?"

Sango slowly nodded and gave her friend a weak smile. Whether Kagome was right or wrong, she realized there was nothing she could do about it. In the end, you just have to pick yourself up and move on, no matter how many times get knocked down, and that was precisely what Sango intended to do.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Kurama could not believe what he had just seen. Beyond what seemed like all bounds of sanity, Hiei had essentially just banished Sango to the Feudal Era, with no way of return. When the fox demon had decided to watch the whole thing unfurl, he had at first decided that he would not let either party know that he was there. Now, that was completely out the window. He was not going to let Hiei get out of this unscathed.

"What on earth did you just do?" he snapped as he stalked angrily towards the fire demon. "Hadn't you just said that you wanted her to come back?"

"Hn, I said 'perhaps', fox. That leaves room for 'no'," retorted Hiei curtly, as he removed Masaruten from its sheath.

"But why did you do it? Didn't you listen to anything I said last night?" continued Kurama , unwilling to let Hiei off the hook. "Why couldn't you just accept her? We know that it was what you both wanted!"

"No, it was what she wanted. Not I," Hiei replied coldly.

"Liar! I saw the whole thing," Kurama returned. "I saw how you looked after she kissed you. You were even blushing, for pity's sake!"

"If you are implying that I hesitated, than you are mistaken, fox," hissed Hiei, his eyes now ablaze as he met Kurama's glare with his own.

"I'm not implying it, I'm saying it directly: you hesitated," spat back Kurama with frustration. "What I can't understand is why you decided to do such an idiotic thing in the first place."

Hiei glared at Kurama for a second longer before turning away from the fox demon, hiding his face from view. Still clutching the unsheathed Masaruten, he finally spoke.

"All right, fox, let's _pretend_ that we're in your foolish little word for a moment, and that I actually had any sort of attachment whatsoever to that woman," he said with deliberate venom. "It would be an impossible idea, anyway. You know as well as I do that time travel of that kind is dangerous. Do you honestly suppose that a demon from one time being with a human from another time would be a feasible thing?"

"You're making excuses."

"Am I, fox? Well then, let's just ignore the safety of time for a second, if you think that an excuse, and turn back to the original point: I was born to be alone. My life is my own, and no one else's, including that woman's."

"Turn around and say that to my face."

Silence followed. Hiei did not turn around. Kurama knew that the request he had made was an impossible one, and Hiei seemed to know it to. Hiei, for some reason, was in denial. Someone had tried to get close to him, and he'd shoved them away. He hadn't even wanted to do it, but he had. Was it instinct? Was it something that was burned into his being, or was it something that could be changed? Right now, Kurama did not know that answer, but he did know one thing: Sango was not the only one who had been wounded here. In fact, she might have gotten off easier.

"You still have the sword," said Kurama, his voice much more gentle then before. "We can still fix this, Hiei. It's okay…"

"Yes…the sword…" Hiei said slowly, dropping the sheath and shifting Masaruten to his left hand, raising it in the air.

Suddenly, his right hand formed into a fist and gathered his energy. Before Kurama could stop him, his fist had collided with Masaruten with terrible force, and the blade shattered from the blow. The silvery pieces of the sword fell like raindrops upon the temple floor, making small plinking sounds as they hit the ground. Kurama could do nothing but stare, horrified at what he had just witnessed, as Hiei let the weapon's now useless hilt slip from his hand and hit the temple floor with a clang.

"Hiei…" spoke Kurama pleadingly, his eyes looking sadly at the back of his friend. "Hiei, look at me."

Hiei did not respond.

"Why are you doing this to yourself? Are you trying to punish yourself for something?" Kurama asked with desperation. "Hiei, answer me."

Again, there was no response.

"I don't know why you do this to yourself, Hiei, but you have to stop. You'll end up hurting yourself if you keep everyone so distant," Kurama said. "I've tried to help, but obviously I can't. I hope you learn from what happened here today, and I can only pray that you will find someone who will help you destroy this wall that you've created between yourself and the rest of the world."

With that, Kurama turned and walked away, leaving Hiei all alone, staring at the pieces of Masaruten. For several moments, he just stood there, staring at the sparkling fragments. Finally, Hiei too turned his back and walked away. All that remained was the sword, a blade that could have unlocked the future, lying shattered on the ground.


	36. Epilogue

**To the readers/reviewers:** Hey there, guys. Well, this is it. The final update there will ever be for "One for the Ages": a proper epilogue. It was a fun ride, and I appreciate all the support that you guys gave me simply by reading or reviewing. I feel like I've really grown as a writer throughout this process, which makes it all very special for me. Anyway, goodbye for now, and enjoy the ending!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

**One for the Ages**

By Gan Xingba

**Epilogue**

It was a beautiful day in Kobe. The skies were clear, and the air had that crisp freshness that came just before summer turned into autumn. Kazuma Kuwabara had no time to enjoy any of it, however. He was too busy looking up and down from a map of the Kobe University campus, trying to figure out just where in the hell he was. Studying the air around him, he realized that he barely remembered anything back from when he had visited the campus last fall when applying to colleges. His best guess was that he had somehow found his way back to the main courtyard, judging from the wide open space and masses of students lounging around, playing soccer, or just relaxing in general.

'_Geeze, you'd think I'd have gotten used to it by now after that freshman orientation,'_ Kuwabara thought dismally. _'But I'll be damned if I ever remember where the stupid math building is…'_

He looked back down at the map again, still walking, and totally unable to see a flyer of some kind that had been forgotten on the sidewalk. As was his luck, he stepped right on top of the flyer, which slid forward immediately as he stepped on it and caused him to fall but first onto the ground. Growling, he snatched up the offending piece of paper from the ground and read its contents. It was an advertisement for some band that some students from the university had formed, and was practically begging for an audience for their next concert.

"Stupid band. What the hell kind of name is 'Lonely Torment Power'? I bet your music sucks as bad as your name," he grumbled out loud as he crumpled up the note and tossed it away.

"Kuwabara? Is that you?"

As he stood up, Kuwabara turned in the direction of the shocked female voice, positive that he had heard it before, praying that it wasn't one of the irritating girls from high school. Fortunately, he was way off the mark. Instead he found Kagome Higurashi, sitting on a nearby bench and with a now ignored newspaper in her hands.

"Kagome? The time traveling girl?" he responded in bewilderment.

"Oh my god, it really _is_ you! It's been years!" Kagome said excitedly as she set her paper down on the bench and hurriedly walked up next to the large young man. "So you're going to Kobe University too, now?"

"Yeah…I never thought I'd even get in, but I did," answered Kuwabara a little sheepishly, not really used to energetic girls like Kagome, much less ones that were so excited to see him. "They even helped pay for my tuition…"

"Wow, that's great," replied Kagome honestly. "Hey, want to catch up on old times a bit? There's a good coffee shop right around here, and I've got a lot of free time."

"Isn't there some kind of openi-" started Kuwabara before being waved off by Kagome.

"Don't worry about it. No one goes to those after their first year," she dismissed, and then started walking down the sidewalk, motioning for Kuwabara to follow. "Come on, the coffee shop is this way."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

The coffee shop was mostly empty, thankfully. Kuwabara felt awkward enough as it is being a freshman, and having to be wary of people overhearing a conversation involving demons and the like would most definitely not help him win any friends. He did not want to be the creepy guy. Kagome, it seemed, did not share his hesitation, and as soon as they had settled in, went right into that subject area.

"Well, in case you couldn't tell, we finally got Naraku," she said before Kuwabara even had the chance to ask. "It took forever, though. That guy just refused to die. Oh! That reminds me! I have to show you something!"

Kuwabara sipped awkwardly on his coffee as Kagome rummaged through her purse, looking for something. On top of his freshman jitters, he also happened to simply not like coffee that much. He had decided to order it anyway, however, because he figured he would look fairly childish ordering a hot chocolate at age eighteen. Fortunately, he didn't have to stand the coffee for long, as it seemed Kagome had finally found what she was looking for: a photograph.

"Guess who that is," she challenged playfully as she pushed the photo across the table towards Kuwabara.

Her finger was pointing towards a very sulky looking youth in the middle of the picture, with long black hair. Of course, it likely was not very long shortly after the picture was taken, as it seemed Kagome was giving him a haircut. Kuwabara scratched his head as he studied the boy's face. For a few moments, he had no idea who it could possibly be, and then at last the pieces clicked together.

"No way! Is that Inuyasha? Dog boy?" he asked in disbelief. "But...he looks…"

"Human," finished Kagome, now blushing. "Remember how he wanted to become a full demon when we completed the Shikon Jewel? Well, he changed his mind. He decided to us it to become a full human instead, and come back to my time with me. It was so sweet of him."

Kuwabara just shook his head in disbelief. It had been obvious to even him that Inuyasha and Kagome were an item, or at least well on the way to being one, but he would never have expected this kind of thing from Inuyasha. Still, he had only been with them for a relatively short time, and did not know the full history, and Inuyasha had certainly shown hints of having compassion here and there, so he supposed it made sense. Still, it was quite the shocker.

"So, where is he now? You guys sharin' an apartment or somethin'?" asked Kuwabara, sliding the photo back to Kagome after one last look. "I mean, if he did that, that's pretty much as good as sayin' he wants to get hitched, right?"

"Gah! How can you say something like that so plainly?" chided Kagome as she flushed to an even brighter shade of red. "We do have an apartment, but we're taking this one step at a time, thank you very much! Not like Sango and Miroku, they got married right away after we finally finished Naraku."

Kuwabara nodded slowly. By now, he had forgotten almost completely about the strange things he had noticed between Sango and Hiei. He had dismissed those observations once Sango never returned to the present, as he did not know of Masaruten's fate, and had quickly forgotten all about it. He _did_, however, Miroku's frequent pursuit of Sango's butt, and therefore had absolutely no mixed feelings upon hearing this news. It made perfect sense.

"Hey, what about the little guy? How'd he end up?" Kuwabara asked suddenly, recalling the group's youngest member.

"Shippou? He couldn't get enough of adventure. He said he was going to travel Japan to become a hero," recalled Kagome with a small laugh. "He probably did, too. I mean, he helped defeat one the most powerful demons in the world when he was just a little kid."

Kuwabara laughed along with Kagome. It was exactly what a little kid would say. Demon or not, Shippou was just a child. He could not be blamed for having such fantastical fantasies and aspirations.

"So, I guess since you're here, that means you aren't a Spirit Detective anymore, huh?" Kagome continued, with Kuwabara nodding an affirmative in response. "When did that all end?"

"Well, a while ago for me, anyway. I figured I can't just fight demons for my entire life, y'know? Urameshi, Hiei and Kurama were doin' some stuff in the Demon World for while, but they're done now, too," Kuwabara answered as he fiddled with his cup of coffee. "We're all doing different things, now."

"Really? Like what?" asked Kagome curiously. "I mean, it's kind of hard seeing Yusuke doing anything normal…"

"Heh, you have no idea. During my last mission, we found something out: it turns out that Urameshi's part _demon_," Kuwabara replied with a wide grin. "And now, after all that, he's running a ramen shop with Keiko. Can you believe that?"

Kagome looked in a state of absolute shock, which really was not very surprising. You do not exactly expect to hear things like "By the way, he's a demon now" when you ask how someone is doing. Of course, Kuwabara still thought that the idea of Yusuke in a ramen shop was much more out of the ordinary. Having been beaten up by Yusuke an almost uncountable number of times, he had considered the possibility himself, even before he knew demons actually existed. Of course, both Kagome and Kuwabara would be shocked if they knew that Yusuke's practically royal demon blood was what had enabled him to use Kagome's well, but that had been one secret Koenma had managed to keep a lid on.

"Crazy, isn't it? Urameshi and Keiko are even married now," Kuwabara continued, letting out a chuckle. "He goes missing for a few years, then shows up and bam! He's on the straightened arrow. I mean, what the hell, right?"

"Yeah…" agreed Kagome, still hardly able to believe it. "What about the others?"

"Oh, right. Let's see…I think Kurama went to go work for his dad's company, or somethin'," began Kuwabara, scratching the back of his head as he tried to remember. "And Hiei...well, the last I heard, he was still in the demon world. I haven't seen him in years, though."

"That's too bad," Kagome responded, though Kuwabara thought he detected a hint of sarcasm.

"Well, Kurama said he was doin' all right now. Said he seemed to be happy for once," elaborated Kuwabara with a shrug. "It's probably good for him. The guy needs to learn to smile."

An awkward silence followed. Kuwabara, having been oblivious to some of Hiei's actions, had no idea that Kagome bore any ill will towards him at all. While Sango had certainly gotten over the whole affair, Kagome would not be so quick to forgive the fire demon for the damage done.

"So, what are you planning on studying here?" asked Kagome, looking to change the subject.

"I want to learn how to start my own business!" stated Kuwabara excitedly, and then began to rummage through his backpack, pulling out a small, old looking book. "Here, look at this."

Examining the book's cover as Kuwabara placed it on the table in front of her, Kagome couldn't help but look a little puzzled. It looked like some sort of manual. On further inspection, she could tell that it was a training manual for a kendo style.

"I got that when I was in the past, remember? I told you how I got taught real kendo, right?" Kuwabara started to explain, grinning ear to ear. "See, when I quit being a Spirit Detective, I thought I'd stop fighting and all that, but I didn't stop training. It was really good for me, not just to keep me in shape, but it really helped me focus and kind of get away from all the crappy stuff in the world. So, it hit me: if it can help me so much, then maybe it can help other kids who need help getting away from the crappy things in their lives. Not only that, but I realized this style of kendo really has some important stuff to teach people."

"Wait…are you saying you want to open a kendo school?" asked Kagome, a bit bewildered.

"Not just a kendo school," clarified Kuwabara. "But a kendo school that specializes in helping kids that need someplace like that to get away from things, see? I've done a lot of research…"

It took a good ten minutes for Kuwabara to realize that he had launched into a full lecture about the merits of the Kamiya Kasshin Style's affects on developing psyches and on a healthy lifestyle. Learning a proper sales pitch, he explained afterwards, was one of the things that he needed to learn about.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

The demon world was peaceful. A few years ago, that may have seemed unusual, but now it seemed like the norm. It was an odd change for Hiei to witness. Up until now, his only memories of the Demon World were bad ones. There was not a single memory of the old Demon World that did not involve violence in some way. Until recently, that is. Until the tournament for the Demon World's crown, that is, and its unexpected victor: Enki.

Really, though, like many changes in Hiei's life recently, one could blame it all on Yusuke Urameshi. It had been he who had proposed the tournament, after all. All the strongest demons had competed, Hiei included, but somehow a kind hearted demon with little acclaim before hand had won, and the Demon World had entered a time of peace. Suddenly, Hiei found himself with little to do in this world. Yet he had stayed, and so here he was: sitting on the ramparts of a castle and taking in the view.

The demon world consisted of mostly dense forest, and after years of subjecting himself to the urban sprawl of the human world, it was an admittedly nice change of pace. Yet, he could never totally enjoy it, for the forest reminded him too much of the mistakes he had made the last time he was in such a forest. They were mistakes, he could see that now. He had refused to admit it at the time, but after it was all said and done, he realized that Kurama had been right: he was only hurting himself. He had sworn to himself that he would not make that mistake again. All he needed was another chance.

"You spend entirely too much time gazing at nothing, Hiei."

And he had been given one.

"I'm thinking," he retorted without turning around, ignoring Mukuro's light laughter that followed from behind him.

"I would hope so," the female demon said as she walked up beside him. "It would generally be a bad sign if a person stops doing so."

"Hn," he scoffed, unable to think of an immediate rebuttal. "And what is it that you are doing that is so much more useful?"

"Point taken," Mukuro replied, gazing down at the view from her castle's rampart for a moment before turning back to Hiei, a small smile on her face. "Since we both seem to be free, perhaps a sparring match is in order."

Hiei glanced at her suspiciously at these words. A "sparring match" with Mukuro could get a little…excessive. She was, after all, undisputedly one of the three most powerful beings in the Demon World, and very possibly the strongest out of them all. Hiei was one of the few who could keep pace with her in a sparring match, but if she went all out, he could not match her. He'd found that out the hard way.

"Hn, if you insist," Hiei replied after a moment's consideration. "I will be down from here in a short while."

"Make it _very _short," Mukuru said with a smirk before turning and walking away. "I won't be kept waiting."

Subtly, Hiei turned his head to watch her go. The similarities were there, without a doubt. They were still two very different women, but there were certainly traits that Mukuro shared with her. "Her", of course, meaning the one that he had made a mistake with. Yet, that mistake had been necessary, in a way. It had taught him a lesson, and he had learned from it.

_'Perhaps if I had not made that mistake with you, then I would not have made the right choice with her,'_ Hiei thought. _'Perhaps I really owe this all to you.'_

In a way, he knew he was right. He had needed her, but not in the classical way. He had needed her to show him what a fool he was, so that he could finally stop being one. And so, it was with no sadness and no regrets, but with genuine and heartfelt thanks, something that he rarely felt, that he whispered out to her before descending from the ramparts.

"Thank you…Sango."


End file.
